Lend Me Your Hand and I'll Show You the Stars
by The Queen of Asgard
Summary: Dr. Emmaline Jackson never imagined that she would be the first choice of brides for Thel Vadam, the Arbiter of the Covenant but she was. She never imagined she would fall in love with him, but she did. They never imagined they would have to find the Reclaimer and fight for an impossible fate but they had to...to follow the stars. *ORIGINAL* Check out the rewrite! Arbiter/OC
1. A History

**Back by popular demand, I give you the original Lend me Your Hand and I'll Show You the Stars. While a ton of people really wanted a rewrite, I actually got quite a few PMs about people wanting the original as well. So, this is the first ungodly bad fanfiction that started it all. Feel free to read and review or just go about your merry way since I'm sure that most of you have read this already! **

**A little information about this fanfiction. This was the first big thing I ever completed and remains a special part of who I am due to mostly the fact that I still am in the Halo fandom and have been since I was about in sixth grade. The rewrite is in celebration of the Master Chief Collection coming out next year and due to the idea of Halo 4. This is a story where Halo 4 never happened. Before this, I had never played Halo 4 so the Forerunners are based off what I thought they may or may not look like. **

**Okay, okay, I'm gonna shut up now! I hope you guys enjoy rereading through Lend me Your Hand...**

**Typing furiously, **  
**Queenie **

* * *

Ever since I was a little kid, I've been interested in two things. The first being science and the second being space and what lay on Reach and Harvest and all those good planets that I had only read about in my textbooks and I remember when a UNSC representative came into our school when I was in 3rd grade to talk to us about the ongoing war with what we knew as the Covenant. It was then I realized my calling was elsewhere then the rest of my classmates and I made it my first priority to get on a spacebridge and get off Earth as fast as I possibly could.

Unfortunately, that's not what my parents had in mind for me. Both of my parents, Sylvia and Derek Jackson had the notion I would become a rather successful technology engineer and make my mark in the world but creating the next AI while my sister, Desi, would become a nurse who treated sick Marines, got married and had 7 adorable children. She was the pretty one but not the brightest where I had gotten the brains but also my father's coarse rough brown hair, hazel eyes, thick eyebrows and long, pointed nose. However, I did get my beautiful mother's slender jaw and plump lips along with a smile that would apparently light up the dark side of the moon, as I had been told by my junior year boyfriend who happened to be dating me to get to my freshman sister.

We had always been enrolled in the same school but whatever I did; she always tried to outshine me and did with alarming regularity. Even though she was pretty, she was athletic and wasn't the dimmest bulb in the electronics store. Goalie of the soccer team? Desi Jackson at your service! A lead role in the school's production? Why not give my little sister a call? A boy looking between me and my sister wouldn't give me a second glance and I knew for a fact by the time she was 15, she had slept around with almost the whole men's soccer team, the football team, and the lacrosse team under our parent's noses. They praised her for her extracurricular choices (behind their backs it was smoking and drinking until she passed out) and supported her every move. Me? I was stuck getting lectured about how I was going to never get into an Ivy League with the grades I was getting or I was getting yelled at because I didn't keep a well enough eye on my princess of a little sister.

It was my senior year of high school when I met Tyler. He was strong, brave and handsome and he had my little sister around his little finger. However, instead of choosing her, the perfect cheerleader, drama star, he chose a slight, willowy creature that looked like she belonged in a chemistry classroom.

He chose me over Desi and I was the happiest girl in the world. The looks she gave me when she passed us in the hall would have made Hell freeze over but I didn't care. I was just happy to have Tyler by my side and him not watching my little sister walk away as she wiggled her perfect ass for the entire world to see.

Then I realized that I didn't want to go to an Ivy school and when Tyler took my virginity, he told me that he was going to be in the Marines to help fight the Covenant and he wanted me to come with him to a new world. I was eighteen years old when I begged and pleaded with my parents to let me become a Marine and after months of threatening, coaxing, yelling and long sleepless nights, my parents allowed me to do what I always dreamed of and Tyler and I were beyond excited that both of us had been allowed to fight for humanity.

After four years of vigorous work and effort, I lost all contact with Tyler and was assigned to an Earth bound station called "The China Sorrow" and finally, two years later I was called to go on a mission to a planet being attacked by the Covenant to evacuate civilians.

I had never killed anything before or have come so close to death in my life. I killed an Elite with the help of two of my friends and unfortunately, I lost one to his brethren who had been cloaked at the time. It was the worst thing that could happen to a young Marine so ready for life and ready to save everyone. We were taught right off the bat that we wouldn't be able to save everyone and we lost over half of the civilians and I barely escaped with my life on the "Lifeblood of the Amazon" and only when we got back to The Sorrow did I allow myself to cry. It was then I realized that my life wasn't truly on the battlefield but with the Marines who had gotten hurt and so I became a trauma doctor and scientist on the side.

About six months later, they brought in a young Elite male who was intent on killing us all and the only person who could talk to him was yours truly. However, I didn't know the first thing about speaking Sanghelli and so I began my journey in learning the tongue. I poured hours and hours into learning and finally after several years, I had mastered the language and was still the only creature, the only human (or primitive monkey as he called our species) that he could stand for long periods of time. I had also become one of the only humans ever to master the language and so I became quite an asset for the UNSC.

However infamous I was becoming about befriending a Sanghelli, I never heard one word from Tyler although I wrote to him almost every day but never got a response. I became depressed and was glad to get away from thinking about him by doing my work. Unfortunately for me, a lot of the time, they had AI's to decipher for me and it was hard for me to do that for the symbols they used were Forerunner. However, I could manipulate noises and words AI's couldn't when throwing the Covenant off our tracks and finally, on September 28th, 2252, I received word from Tyler.

Of course, we had all heard about the Master Chief and Delta Halo and its destruction but I never dreamed that Tyler would have been in the thick of the battle. I had lost my Prince Charming to the Flood and he had been killed shortly after the destruction of the ring.

I had become depressed for a long time after that and was only roused out of it when I was informed that I was being moved to the Cairo, a MAT gun station and was on the same ship as the Master Chief. I was Dr. Emmaline Jackson then and I was 24 years old when I met the Chief, a good 18 years my senior. However, his voice and his mysterious aura had me hooked like 2/3rds of the female officers aboard the Cairo.

I never did really get to tell the Chief how I felt because he left the Cairo and never came back and unfortunately, I was stuck helping the wounded and researching the Sanghelli culture in the little spare time I had.

I never looked back after Tyler's death. I found the past to be extremely painful and even when I was told that I would be present at a ceremony in Voi, Africa to commemorate a memorial to the fallen heroes of the war, I held my head high and let the tears fall proudly for my lost love. He didn't have a picture on the memorial but I heard that they put several more up around Earth to honor those who had died that would have Tyler's picture on it. I did not cry for anyone but him, not even when I heard that the Chief had been lost to the stars nor that my good friend Miranda Keyes had been murdered by the Prophet of Truth. I cried for only him.

However, a twist in my life happened on that day. I had just turned 25 and had recently been informed that I would be officially retired after that day. However, as I stood there and let the tears fall down my cheeks, I caught the sight of an Elite, the one they called The Arbiter looking straight at me with his strange eyes. As soon as my eyes met his, he quickly looked away and began to talk with Lord Hood, the leader of the UNSC and I heard plans of the Sanghelli going back to their home world. I then stepped forward as I was asked and took my spot behind a podium that had been set up for the speakers.

I had been asked to do a blessing in the Sanghelli language weeks ago, to show the binding unity of our two cultures even though I knew in my heart of hearts that we would never truly be united. Like oil and water, we were just too different. I looked up at the crowd and my eyes fell on the Sanghelli in the back. A wave of butterflies erupted in my belly and I swallowed, my mouth suddenly gone dry. My eyes flicked to the Arbiter who watched me expectantly and finally, I began.

_Do not stand at my grave and weep,_

_ I am not there... I do not sleep._

_ I am the thousand winds that blow..._

_ I am the diamond glints on snow..._

_ I am the sunlight on ripened grain..._

_ I am the gentle autumn rain._

_ When you waken in the morning's hush,_

_ I am the swift uplifting rush_

_ Of gentle birds in circling flight..._

_ I am the soft star that shines at night._

_ Do not stand at my grave and cry__—_

_ I am not there... I did not die..._

My head held high, I stepped down from the podium, aware that the Arbiter's eyes were still at my back. It was an Irish blessing, said in the Sanghelli language and I felt a little awkward to say it for some of the words had double meanings.

After all was said and done, I felt a hand on my shoulder and I looked up, startled to see the Elite clad in his armor that was so different from that of the others I had seen.

"Your pronunciation was rather well," He said in a deep, smooth voice that could have made any alien girls weak at the knee, "You are the first of your kind to master our language, correct? "

"Um, yes," I nodded and then looked down at the ground, ashamed that my face was turning red, "Dr. Emmaline Jackson at your service." I stuck out my hand awkwardly and after a moment, he took it and we shook, quickly letting go. "I had the honor of learning from a Sanghelli male several years back and I've been using it ever since. Rather handy to know in my line of work."

"And what do you specialize in, Doctor?" He asked and I looked up at him.

"Well…Sanghelli culture and speech mostly," I said truthfully, "I find your species to be a fascinating group."

I took a step back as he made a rather harsh sound from his throat, "I do believe that I can say the same about your history, Doctor. Spending time with your kind has given me a whole new look on them. Tell me, do you have a mate?"

I blushed again, "I-I did some time ago but he died on Installation 04 after being infected by the flood."

His mandibles flared slightly in remembrance, "I lost many of my brothers on that ring as well, I do know what you are experiencing."

"It's horrid, isn't it?" I asked softly and he lowered his long neck slightly towards me.

"Terrible," He had captured me with his eyes and that was it. I was hypnotized and stuck in his gaze.

"Thel," Someone snapped me out of my thoughts and he snapped up and I saw an Elite clad in white missing a mandible. His eyes flicked to me and then back to the Arbiter, "Who is this?"

"Dr. Emmaline Jackson, sir," I said bowing respectfully.

"You're the human who managed to master the Sanghelli language, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

He looked at me for a few more moments and then turned back to the Arbiter. "We must be leaving." He gave me one last distasteful look and then turned on his heel and moved towards the Phantoms that were hovering above the plain. The Arbiter looked back at me and nodded respectfully.

"I have a feeling our paths will cross again, Doctor Jackson." He bade and then followed the Shipmaster towards the Phantoms, leaving me confused, upset and hopeful all at the same time.


	2. Blushing Bride, I am Not

~5 Years Later~

I opened my eyes to the sound of my clock going off. I groaned and sat up, my head pounding. I ran a hand through my now short dark reddish-brown hair and reached over for my glasses, slipping them up my nose as I yawned and fell out of bed.

"Good morning, Doctor," An automated voice rang out and I sighed as my uniform was honed in on and then selected, its crisp white cleanliness shining in the light of my illuminated lamp. I stood up and then shivered as the cold air hit my exposed legs.

"Leah, why is it so cold in here?" I demanded and I could my AI chuckle. A platform standing rather closely to my bed activated and showed a woman in a Victorian dress with an umbrella and fancy hat with an arched eyebrow.

"It's 66.8 in here, Doctor, that's not cold." She argued and I held up a hand to quiet her ravings.

"Just…turn up the thermostat," I mumbled, "And start the coffee. It's gonna be a hard morning."

"Very well Doctor," Leah nodded and then disappeared and was excited to feel the air getting warmer almost instantly. I sighed and then slipped off the extra-large tee shirt, my glasses getting caught on my shirt. I grunted and finally relieved my body from the tee shirt with a triumphant 'HA!'

Of course, then my wonderfully snide AI saw everything and I heard her snicker even before I turned around. "Do you require some assistance, Doctor?"

"Not from you," I grumbled as I pulled on a pair of undies and a bra, "Are you making the damn coffee?"

"Right away, Doctor." She left without another word and from the kitchen of my apartment; I could hear the coffee gurgling. That was one thing that hadn't changed since my ancestor's times. We still made coffee the same exact way and that was exactly how it was supposed to be. I pulled on my tank top and padded out into the dining room where a mug was sitting right by the paperwork that I was supposed to fill out. Why they couldn't just have an AI do it I don't know but I always figured Director Davis was a bit of a sadist. I grabbed the pot and walked over to where cold coffee still lingered like a really bad joke.

Not that I really cared about cold coffee. Usually, I just pour the hot stuff on top of the cold stuff as I'm running out the door but today, the idea didn't really appeal to me so I made a face and dumped the cold substance out of the cup and refilled it with piping hot coffee. No matter what Leah said or did, nobody could deny she made a good cup of Joe.

"Did you look at the time?" She asked me and I held up a hand to silence her as I took a deep long drink from my cup and relished the delicious bitter liquid.

"No time for talk just let me…"

"It's 6:45."

"Oh shiiiii…" I slammed my mug down onto the table and booked it back to my room where I threw on the rest of my uniform and grabbed my toothbrush, furiously scrubbing my teeth as Leah leaned up against the column in the bathroom.

"I did try to tell you…"

"Oh shut up," I mumbled as I spat toothpaste into the basin, "I mean…I wanted my coffee but you didn't wake me up…"

"It's your own fault," Leah retorted in a snort and I rolled my eyes, slamming my toothbrush onto the granite counter. I raced back into my room and flung on my purple slacks, V-neck shirt and my hand brushed over the necklace that Ty had given to me right before he had gone off.

My stomach clenched and I felt the breath leave my lungs. It's in the shape of an eagle in flight and on the back; it has our initials carved into it. I touched it once more and then sighed, knowing that I would never see him again.

"Doctor," Leah's condescending voice cuts through my thoughts and I wince again, "I don't mean to cut through your thoughts but you really must be going. It's…"

"I know," I snapped and then stood up, grabbing my purse and running out the door without as much as a goodbye.

The lab I work at is huge. We are and continue to be one of the galaxies top research facilities and engineer centers. As soon as I walked in the door, four AIs all on pedestals all popped up to greet me. My favorite, an older man who strangely resembles Albert Einstein, bowed and smiled to me.

"Good morning, Doctor Jackson," he said in his prim accent and I nod back to him and smile.

"Hello Archie," I respond and begin walking towards the glass elevators that separate the civilian's floor from the employee's floor, which is where I work. My office, with a pretty little nameplate that reads, Dr. Emmaline Jackson, professor of Sanghelli culture, is plush with a view of downtown New London. Skyscrapers touch the sky with their harsh silhouettes as the yellow sun rises, illuminating a picture I had on my desk that was at least twelve years old.

It was a picture of a blonde guy with green eyes and a girl who had brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. The picture suggests they're about to share an extremely intimate moment, however the picture does not show the seconds that follow and then girl, smacking the guy lightly across the face while laughing and the guy laughing too.

This is the final picture of Ty and me before we were shipped off.

My fingers trail over the intricate carving of the frame and I plop down in my chair before running my hands through my short hair. I can already tell today's gonna be rough.

"Knock, knock," Someone was at my door and my head snapped up to see my best friend and coworker, Kylie Wu. "Can I come in? I bring tidings of coffee from the convince store down the street."

"Oh you're a goddess," I murmur as she hands me the hot beverage. It burns my throat and I come up for air as she chuckling.

"Princess, warrior queen, I've never been called a goddess," She laughs and then sips her own coffee, "You have an addiction, Em."

I snort and then down another gulp of the bitter beverage, "Like a crack whore, Kylie."

"Anyway, did you see the paperwork that the Director sent out?" She asked, "I mean, come on! Does she really expect us to fill out all that?"

I shook my head, "You know I just got here," I retorted and she rolled her eyes and tucked a strand of dark black hair behind her ear, "What did it say?"

"Oh she just wants us to fill out an 'employee comments' thingy," Kylie put quotation around employee comments like it was some big joke, "She just wants to know who isn't satisfied so that when she sacks them, she won't feel as guilty."

I laughed and sipped again, "You're just paranoid, Ky," I turned towards the desk and ran my hand over it.

"Identification matched, welcome back, Dr. Jackson." Archie's voice rang in my ears and I leaned back and grinned.

"Hello again Archie," I said before the little man appeared on my desk and bowed.

"Doctor, it's lovely to see your beautiful face once again."

"Oh stop flattering me and get me that paperwork that Dr. Wu said she got."

"You mean the employee evaluation forms? I'll pull those up right now."

The papers were on my desk before I could retort. Kylie WAS right! The thing was giant! Archie sat on the pile and gave me a forlorn smile.

"I guess that you'll probably want your music on while you do this?" He asked, and I chuckled.

"You know me so well." I turned back to Kylie who was leaning against the desk, holding the picture of Tyler. When I tried to grab it out of her hand, she pulled it back and tucked it into her bag.

"HEY!" I cried and she rolled her eyes.

"Oh relax, Em! Honestly, the more you look at it, the more obsessed you become! You do NOT want to become my father! He looks at my mother's picture every day and you've seen how disgusting his apartment is!"

I shivered at the thought. Kylie's father had lost his wife when she was 20 and hadn't stopped staring at her picture ever since. It was cute at first to see the devotion he had towards his late wife but when it had been going on for 10 years…that was just a little scary.

"Can you please give it back to me?" I asked politely and she arched an eyebrow and smiled.

"You don't get this back for the rest of the day, Dr. Jackson." She laughed as I began to protest, "Not today! You will NOT think about Tyler and tonight, we're going out clubbing in the sluttiest outfits we can find and get drunker than hell!"

"You are evil," I halfheartedly teased and she waved as she walked out the door. I turned back to the desk where Archie was still sitting on the paper.

"I don't normally do this but do you want me to do it? You just tell me the answers and I'll get them into the computer for you. I'll even make it look like you're handwriting if you really want."

"You have no idea how much that would help me."

We began talking about the paperwork and I gushed about how much I loved the company and so on and so forth. I finished my coffee in fifteen minutes flat until I was called into a meeting, surprisingly enough.

"Dr. Jackson?" The Director's secretary's voice pulled me out of my thoughts as I browsed through files I had collected about the Sanghelli language. I was helping Archie perfect the dialect. Sometimes AIs didn't cut it and sometimes, humans had to step in.

I looked up and answered, "Yeah?"

"You're being called into a meeting with the Director. She says it's extremely important. Somebody has taken interest in your studies. Come up to the meeting room as soon as you possibly can. That is all."

I glanced down at Archie who shrugged.

"I'll finish this for you," He promised and if he was real, I would have kissed him.

"Oh thank you so much!" I whisper-cried and blew him a kiss. With that, I grabbed my lab coat and hurried out of my office, tightly locking it behind me. I met Kylie in the hall who quickly grabbed my attention.

"Where do you think you're going?" She demanded and I grinned, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Director's office," I laughed in spite of myself.

"Yeah well good luck!" She slugged my shoulder and I nodded, flushing slightly. I hurried back over to the elevator and pushed back interns and doctors alike until another AI asked me where I was going.

"Top floor, the Director's office." I told her breathlessly and she glanced was silent for a moment.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"Try Dr. Emmaline Jackson. She said she needed to see me."

She was quiet for another moment until she spoke once more, "Okay, I got the green light."

The elevator slid silently up until we came to the top floor, a posh almost apartment floor that had a glass floor that showed the koi that drifted lazily around. The blonde secretary looked up and smiled at me.

"Dr. Jackson?" She asked and I nodded.

"The one and only."

"Very good. The Director's waiting for you in there and you'll get briefed."

"Excuse me? Get briefed?"

I could tell that she had said something she wasn't supposed to. She hesitated for a moment before finally pressing the button next to her, "Madame Director, Dr. Jackson is here to see you."

"Send her in."

The doors to my right opened to a large conference and in there were several people I didn't expect to see. The Director was there but so were Lord Hood, looking significantly older than he did before, several Marines and an Elite wearing red armor.

Lord Hood stood up and I saluted respectfully. "Lord Hood, Sir. I didn't expect you again, Sir."

"I never expected to see you again either, Doctor." He said truthfully and I blushed, "You have gathered quite a reputation for yourself, I see."

"She's the best in her field, no wonder he requested her," The Director murmured and my eyes flicked towards the older woman. What did she mean by that?

"As I was saying," Lord Hood kept on talking as if the Director wasn't even there, "As you know, 5 years ago, there was a treaty that was signed that meant peace for both our world and the Sanghelli. As you know they returned home. However," Here he took a breath.

"Perhaps I should continue," The Elite stood up and bowed his ridiculously long neck in my general direction_, "Hello Doctor, I have heard many great things about you and you are a very respected member of humans in the Sanghelli race. My name is Yven Ramd and I am a Fleet Master." _He spoke in Sanghelli and after a moment, I responded, not so sure of myself.

"_It is an honor to meet a member of your species that is so great in ranks," _I responded and he snorted and then switched back to English.

"So it is true what they say about you then? I did not believe it when the Arbiter told me that he had met a female that spoke our language with no mistakes. However, it seems that I have been proved wrong."

My mind stumbled back to the day of the memorial. How I told myself I wouldn't keep my eyes on the past and how I had.

"This is not important, of course," he continued…

"Now it is my turn," The Director interjected in her prim accented voice, "The Sanghelli wish to make a new treaty but this one in blood."

"O-okay," I said slowly, "What does that have to do with me?"

She gave me a tight lipped smile and then looked at me over her rhinestone spectacles. "They wish to join a female human with a Sanghelli male in the hopes that a child will be conceived between the two races, thus making the treaty finalized through this child's birth. We will become blood brothers and together, we will find new ways to expand into the great unknown."

"So…you want me to do what exactly?"

"Is she really that dense?" One of the Marines muttered to another one and I glared at him.

"Dr. Jackson…" The Director leaned forward and took off her glasses, "With your vast amount of Sanghelli knowledge, you are our number one candidate for this joining. The Arbiter, the Sanghelli champion, has asked for your hand in holy matrimony."


	3. The Major from Hell

I leaned back into my chair and scoffed, "Uh huh. Yeah. Like that would really happen! I have been researching their culture for almost seven years! They hate us! Why in the world…"

"He believes that this will strengthen the relationship between humans and Sanghelli," Lord Hood interrupted, "And I for one agree with him. There is still so much unrest between the Elites and humans and if it comes to the point where we must fight together, we all believe that humans and Sanghelli alike would refuse to fight side by side."

"Then ask a civilian to do it!" I snapped, "I'm sure the Arbiter wouldn't tell the difference."

This obviously pissed off the Elite because he stood up and took a step towards me before a Marine touched his shoulder in a signal that said more than the gesture should have.

_ Cool it._

My eyes flicked back towards the Director. "How long have you know about this?" I demanded and she arched an eyebrow.

"Long enough. I was aware of the Arbiter's intentions several months ago when Lord Hood and I spoke."

"And you didn't think to tell me as soon as you learned about it?"

"I was told not to tell you," The Director said as she picked a piece of imaginary lint off her pristine jacket, "Until the time came and that time was now."

"Oh yes, because a girl's security is so much better than her almost having a heart attack," I retorted sarcastically. The Director's eyes quickly became sharp and she stood up abruptly and marched over to me.

"Don't think for a second this is easy for me, Dr. Jackson," She said with more fire than I ever believed she had, "I was indeed aware of this but the burden was almost too much to carry. I almost told you more than once."

"Director Davis!"

"It's true!" She spat, turning towards Lord Hood, "She's one of my best! I can barely afford to lose her and that damned AI will probably rebel against me, he's almost in love with her!"

"I resent that," came a voice from a pedestal and the form of an elder man appeared, looking extremely dapper, as usual. "She was always my favorite scientist, but I knew about this as well."

"WAS I THE ONLY ONE WHO DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THIS?!" I yelled and all eyes turned to me. I quickly quieted and blushed deeply. "Sorry but seriously, nobody's asked me how I feel about this. I mean, I've established the fact that he wants my hand but why and how and how…"

"He was intrigued with you when you spoke Sanghelli at the memorial in the desert." The Elite Shipmaster piped up and my eyes flicked towards him, urging him to continue, "He was taken with you and in the past five years, he told anyone who would listen about the strange human woman who spoke his language and spent every moment trying to find anything that would again let him cross paths with a girl wishing to close the gaps between our species."

I felt myself blush but nodded for him to continue. His mandibles broke into something that could have passed for a smile and spoke again.

"Both humans and Sanghellis were musing on a way to qualm hostility that still lingers between our races," He went on, "It was originally Rtas Vadum's idea, the binding one of the Sanghelli warriors with a human. He was extremely surprised when The Arbiter volunteered information about not only a girl who would be a suitable candidate but a Sanghelli male who would be more than honored to take the harrowing task of joining in this new chapter of the alliance."

"He asked for me," I murmured and touched my lower lip with my index finger, remembering the final time Tyler kissed me. Suddenly, my head seemed light and I gripped the tabletop for support. The Elite was across the table before anyone else and he touched my hand lightly.

"Are you alright, Doctor Jackson?" He asked sincerely and I felt my cheeks turn even redder than they had been before.

"Yeah," I murmured and closed my eyes, hoping I could drown out the horrible reality settling on my shoulders. I would have to let go of my past and embrace my future…or it would tear me to shreds before I even started living in it.

* * *

I threw a pair of glasses into their case and stormed around my apartment, muttering several choice swear words under my breath. Leah seemed to be rather pleased with herself as she watched me go Godzilla on the poor, defenseless rooms.

"Calm down there, Beast," She told me primly as she examined her nails, "Look, it probably won't even be that bad."

I zipped with my duffel bag angrily and glared at my AI. She had served me well in the last five years but for once in her short lifespan, she was wrong. It would be bad. This…creature was trying to take over something that had been filled up for far too long.

"You're wrong," I snapped and stood to my full height, "YOU don't have to have a kid with him! YOU don't have to share your day with him every day for the rest of your life! All I wanted was to have a normal life with a normal husband but OBVIOUSLY that's not going to happen because of…THIS!"

I fell down onto my floor and ran a hand through my loose, dark hair, allowing the tears that had been evading me the past few days. It had been four days since my life altering news and my world had turned on its head. I had been reenlisted as a doctor and I was told to report to the Space Station London to await my Prince Charming and my glass slippers. Of course, he would be there when I got there but they would allow me a day of rest before I saw him.

"It's gonna be terrible," I mumbled into my hands, "We're not even the same species."

"Emmaline Jackson!" Leah's sharp voice suddenly was head and my head snapped up, "When you began your career, didn't you wish to further human advances into the stars?"

"Yeah but…"

"And did you vow to protect humans to the best of your abilities when you were in the Marines?"

"That's totally different…"

"And didn't you…"

"LEAH," I practically yelled and she stopped in the middle of a breath. "Look…can you just get the point?"

"The point is that you swore to protect and advanced the human race at all costs and now, you're going against your oath."

"But…"

"No buts, Doctor. You promised to uphold this to the best of your ability and now…you must go through with this because you are a woman of your word and science and this will better the lives of everyone in the human race."

I snorted and kicked off one of the shoes that barely hung from my feet. I was supposed to be gone an hour ago, meeting Major John Williamson at a base somewhere in New London.

"Easy for you to say," I laughed softly and then turned up to face her, "What am I going to do without you, Leah? You won't make my coffee for me in the mornings."

She trilled softly and her intelligent eyes softened slightly, "I'm sure you'll manage, Doctor Jackson."

I stood up and laughed too, pulling my hair into a ponytail. "Are you sure you'll be alright without me?"

She scoffed and waved a dismissive hand, "I'll be in the hands of someone from the Institute within an hour, don't worry about me. Maybe next time you're on Earth, I'll see you again."

"Not sure if I'll ever be on Earth again," I told her softly before grabbing my duffel and then looking at her. She obviously saw the sadness in my eyes because she sighed softly and then bowed slightly.

"Good day, Doctor Jackson," She said primly before disappearing and I knew I would never see the proud, yet kind AI ever again.

I shouldered the bag and slipped in several more items I would need for the journey, walked across the plush carpet and opened the door to a new life, a new opportunity and said goodbye to my friends, my family and my life. And finally, for the first time in my life, I was truly saying goodbye to the man who had pulled me into this crazy life and the man who I knew I must let go of to keep from getting swept up into the undercurrent of this twisted reality.

Goodbye, Tyler.

* * *

I stepped off the high speed monorail that was rather close to the base and began to make my way towards it. I had been given rather specific instructions on what to wear and was pleased to find out that what I was wearing worked perfectly fine. I was wearing a pair of loose jeans with a tee shirt, a jacket that dusted my hips and a pair of sneakers. I had time to braid back my hair and so now it hung stiffly down my back. I walked up to where the hangar was and saw Williamson there waiting for me.

I quickly saluted and he did so back, "Doctor Jackson," he began and I nodded.

"You must be Major Williamson," I responded coldly. The man had to be at least three years younger than me.

"Yes Ma'am, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise. Can we get on with the mission then?"

He hesitated but then regained composure rather quickly, "Certainly, follow me. We're supposed to leave in a half an hour to go to the space elevator that will take us up to the London."

"Sounds pleasant," I muttered as we continued our brisk walk through the base. He spoke about the time it would take us to finally get to the space elevator and finally, we rounded a corner to a giant hangar that held a giant circular disk that could easily fit ten people. That must be the space elevator.

When the first expeditions were being launched, they used rockets but now, they could use solar power to get giant elevators through the atmosphere.

"Like I said, the launch will be in an hour so that gives you half an hour to walk around, take a good look at the base."

"Can we go now?" I asked suddenly and he arched an eyebrow.

"You mean like…now, now?" He asked in a squeaky voice and I nodded slowly.

"Yes, I mean now, now. Is that too much for you to handle, Major?"

I probably shouldn't have snapped at him but I was in such a bad mood and I didn't like Williamson right off the bat…However, he managed to get everything ready and get the proper people-including my favorite Elite in the world-into the elevator in record time. He nodded respectfully at me but I pretty much ignored him and with that, the elevator ride was instigated and I finally accepted the fact that I was going to become the bride of a creature that wasn't even my own species.

* * *

"Doctor Jackson," A woman in a nicely cut uniform greeted me at the station and as soon as I stepped out, there were people there to take my bag, jacket and other things I had brought with me. Williamson awkwardly came out behind me and blushed when he saw the woman. "I'm Major Alexandria Hoffman. I've admired your work ever since I read about you, Doctor."

"Thanks Major," I smiled bitterly and was handed a rather nice lab coat that I slipped on. It was in my size and everything, "I suspect you want me to do research here," I laughed softly as I fingered the familiar white material.

The woman hesitated and then spoke, "You are more than welcome to do research but it's not required of you, even though I would love to see some of your work."

"Just point me to your lab and I'll get started on whatever you want me to do instantly," I promised and she gave me a thin lipped smile.

"You can go down the lab as soon as you get settled in," She promised.

"And when will I be able to meet my…well, I guess you wouldn't really call him a fiancé," I laughed sourly and Hoffman sighed.

"He wishes for you to get settled in and ready before you make any formal introductions," She told me and I rolled my eyes. "However, I'm sure you'll see him at dinner this evening at 1800 hours. Can you handle that?"

"With pleasure," I said with as much venom as I could muster. Thank goodness I wouldn't have to be with Major Hoffman and Williamson for too much longer.

Another Marine took me to my barracks that I had all to myself, surprisingly enough. It was spacious and nice with a queen sized bed that my stuff was already set out on. There was also a closet and a small bathroom which would come in handy. Then I remembered in horror that in the very new future I would probably be sharing this bed with an unwanted companion.

I suppressed a shiver and stripped out of the jacket and my smelly clothes, deciding a shower was in order. My hair stayed in so when it came out, it would be wavy and soft and I could tie it back easier.

The water was too cold and then too hot and I screamed as I was assaulted by two streams of equally painful jets of water and finally, I decided that my shower would just have to wait. Shivering, I stepped out of the shower and groped around for an appropriate set of clothing, finally coming up with a green shirt, a pair of cargo pants and combat books. I opted for my sneakers instead but put the lab coat back on.

I opened the door of my room and looked around, slipping out into the hallway and closing the door silently. I knew it wasn't a crime to go exploring but I felt sort of guilty for it anyway. I was never much of a rule breaker or rebel.

The windows showed a breathtaking view of Earth and I smiled softly to myself as I stopped to look out over my home world. It was ironic that I spent so much time wishing I was away from it and now, I would give anything to be back there.

I never heard him come up beside me. I never heard him start breathing or anything, but I nearly wet my pants when I heard him start talking.

"Earth's a strange planet, isn't it?"

As soon as my heart was back under control, I turned to see a Sanghelli looking out the window at Earth. He was tall, probably eight feet tall or so with blue-grey skin and dark orange, almost brown eyes. He wore his armor and I felt as if I had seen him before. He turned to me and I glanced at him and realized in horror that this was him, this was the Arbiter!

"I don't recognize you. Did you come up with Doctor Jackson?"

My gut turned but I lied, "Oh yeah, the doctor's in her room resting. I'm just here for the evening and then I'm gone again."

"I see," He paused, "And what is she like?"

"She's…ah…well…" My brain searched for the right words to say but I couldn't think of any! "She's…enchanting?"

He scoffed slightly and I turned my eyes away, praying he didn't catch my lie, and "Enchanting. From what I've heard about her, she's brilliant."

"Haven't you guys met before?"

"Five years ago, she recited a poem in my language perfectly. I highly doubt she even remembered me and I'm sure she hates me now." He turned to leave but something made me cry out softly,

"She probably doesn't! She's not one to really hold a grudge!"

I wondered why he didn't recognize me. Had five years really changed me that much? Had the shower darkened my hair enough to not be recognizable?

His mandibles splayed slightly and he nodded to me, "Your encouragement is greatly appreciated, Doctor. What is your name?"

"Uh well…it's…"

"DR. JACKSON!" Someone called and I winced.

"That."


	4. Fistfight

Hoffman came up to our duo and her eyes widened when she saw that the Arbiter and I were talking. He suddenly took a step back as if I was venomous and my eyes shut as a blush creeped up my face. I hated lying to people.

"I…see you two have made your acquaintances," She said sharply, "However, I must pull the Arbiter away for a little while longer. Formal introductions will be made tomorrow."

He was still watching me even as they walked away, Hoffman talking his nonexistent ear off and I decided that this was my first inclination to look around, thinking about what I just witnessed. How did he not recognize me?! I mean, yes, I had grown up considerably in the past five years and get a few new wrinkles and dyed hair but…did he not want this as much as I did?

I watched as they left and then as soon as they had rounded a corner did I resume my exploration of the station. To my surprise, I found a high-tech lab that teemed with scientific research. An older man with a shock of salt and pepper hair met me at the door and arched an eyebrow.

"So, I am guessing your Dr. Emmaline Jackson?" He asked, crossing his hands over his chest. He was skinny but in his prime, he was probably handsome. I nodded slowly and I felt the weight of his gaze under my skin.

"Yes, Sir."

"And I'm guessing you probably know who I am."

"I can't say I do, Sir."

"I am Dr. Isaac Gilbert, head of the research team on this establishment. I assume you've been praised quite a bit on your abilities and strengths, am I correct?"

"I guess, Sir."

He leaned forward until I could smell his spearmint gum and coffee breath, "You will find no such thing if you choose to work here. I will have no arrogant creature ruining my research, do I make myself clear?"

I was taken aback by his speech. "Uh…yes, Sir. I will…erm…try my very best…Can I ask about your facility?"

He straightened up and turned on his heel. I could tell he was a very proper, organized man, so far away from the clutter of my own life. If I didn't have my AI's helping me I would have been in a rather terrible mess. He motioned for me to follow him and so I began to trail along, looking at all the different stations that housed test tubes, microscopes and men and women of science, all pale from hours of being without sunlight.

"This is where you'll be stationed when you're not training," He said briskly and then waved his hand over the desk. Suddenly, a dim glow showed up and I saw a beautiful young girl, about ten or so facing the Doctor.

"Dr. Gilbert, is this…"

"Yes Jordynn, this is Dr. Jackson." He turned back to me and scrutinized me behind his pea sized glasses. How could anyone see with glasses that small?! "This is the lab's AI. Her name is Jordynn and she's got all your information ready to go whenever you're ready to start researching whatever needs to be researched."

"Thank you, Doctor Gilbert." I watched as he went to yell at someone else and I turned to the glowing AI. "So…"

"I'm sorry; I'm here for research only. I don't have time for small talk," She said icily and I arched an eyebrow. At least Leah was sarcastic and not just cold as the Artic.

"Sorry to bother you," I muttered sarcastically and decided that I didn't want to spend my time with a rather nasty AI and a scientist that already disliked me for God only knows what purpose.

"Don't be angry at the Doc," An accented voice said behind me and I jumped slightly. "He doesn't like anyone when he first meets them."

I turned around to face a rather strange artifact of the London that hid herself in dark corners behind book shelves and ducked under computers. She had a shock of bright curly red hair that fell unevenly around her shoulders and in some places it was braided. Her eyes sparkled green and she was as pale as death itself.

"You are Dr. Jackson, I presume?" She stuck out a hand and grinned awkwardly, "I'm Dr. Penny Waits, I study dark matter but I get rather sidetracked on the Sanghelli culture, much thanks to you."

I laughed softly. This girl was probably pushing 24 or so and she looked up at me as if she was talking to a superstar. "I'm nothing special, Dr. Waits."

"Please, call me Penny."

"And you can call me Em. Not Emma, not Emmaline, just Em."

Penny smiled and I felt like I had finally met someone who I could actually speak to without being scrutinized as the new kid on the block. I prided myself in not having a big head but Penny's compliments left me a little flustered.

"Come on, you're just in time for dinner."

The dining hall was full of soldiers and scientists alike, but most soldiers and I glanced around until my eyes locked on where the Arbiter was sitting with several other Elites. Penny touched my arm and then nodded over to a group of soldiers and scientists who were laughing at a joke whose stale odor still hung in the air.

"Those are my friends. You'll meet them in a minute," We walked over to where a line was forming and I gingerly picked up a dark blue tray before putting it on the conveyor belt where I could grab whatever my heart's desire was. I chose a veggie burger with a water and followed Penny who's own tray was overflowing with delicacies that made my fragile stomach twist.

"Hey, what's up guys?" She smiled as we put our trays down side by side. A rather cute Hispanic guy with short curly hair and dark hazel eyes glanced up and winked at me before flicking his eyes back to Penny.

"Oh Penny, you missed the best joke ever!" A woman gasped, wiping tears from her eyes before finally looking to me. "Is this Dr. Jackson?"

"Yeah," Penny clapped me on the shoulder and smiled, "Dr. Emmaline Jackson, the only human being to ever master the Sanghelli tongue."

I found myself blushing as her group of friends watched me. I was a scientist for a reason. I sucked at socializing and found myself skipping out on office parties to stay at home, even though it meant I was ridiculed by my dear Leah.

"It's not that important…" I muttered, picking at my burger.

"Oh right sure, I mean I could pick it up in a week," Said the Hispanic guy sarcastically, "Don't be humble, you've got a gift chica! By the way, I'm Sargent Manny Lopez at your service."

"It's nice to meet you."

The woman who had spoken then stepped in, "I'm Katie Barker, and I'm an AI technician. You saw that bitch of an AI? She's mine. I consider her…a second daughter. She WAS supposed to be based on my actual daughter before she died but…Well…you see how well that went."

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your daughter?"

Katie's face fell, "She passed away in her sleep three years ago. They said that it was inevitable but why they didn't catch it before…" She shook her head and sighed, "It was hard but it's better now. Jordynn takes up most of my time."

After that, Katie was silent and I learned the names of the others who sat around the table. There was Haley, Kyle, Rogan, Jack, Lydia and Peter, a varying degree of ages, ethnicities, backgrounds and jobs. Rogan, Lydia and Peter were all scientists while Haley, Kyle and Manny were soldiers, mostly sergeants but Kyle was a sergeant major.

We spoke of the Covenant wars and our lives that followed and I opened up to them about Tyler with several tears. Haley too had a soldier love that died on the second ring that was found and Rogan lost a dear sister.

We spoke for several more hours and I finally felt as if I was making so real friends until Major Hoffman came over to our table and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"We have somewhere to be," She said bluntly and so with farewells from my new friends and another wink from Lopez, I followed Hoffman out of the dining hall and into an adjoining hallway where we walked in silence until we reached a door that was bolted by a control panel.

"I know you met the Arbiter today."

"Well you should have known, you saw us talking."

She narrowed her eyes and flicked back her hair, "If you weren't so damn special, Jackson, I would be the one going down in the history books as the human who bridged the gap between the Sanghelli race and humans."

I got up right in her face and narrowed my eyes, "Be my guest, Hoffman. I didn't want to do this in the first place. If you want to be an intergalactic whore, by all means, have at him because God only knows I don't."

I turned on my heel and stormed out of the hallway and almost ran into Penny who stumbled towards me.

"Oh, sorry Em…I was just coming to ask you…"

I wasn't in the mood to talk to her about anything Sanghelli related and I had a feeling that's where she was heading.

"Look, Penny, I'm gonna go back to my room I'm super tired…"

"Great! I'll walk you there."

She began to fall into step with me but I stopped. "Seriously. I'm really grumpy but I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"O-okay," She stuttered before taking a step back, allowing me to move back down the hall, out of the dining room to my own room, about a ten minutes' walk, not counting the two hours that were included because I got lost so much. However, in my getting lost, I found a plaque that commemorated all those who were lost in the great wars.

I rested my fevered forehead against the plaque and clenched my fists tightly.

"Oh Tyler…why couldn't you save me now?" I whispered as sadness dotted my eyes, making the plaque blurry. I wanted him to hold me in his arms, not some strange alien whose colleagues had killed my best friends. I sighed and leaned forward on the wall before closing my eyes and praying to whatever god could hear me.

Obviously one of them listened.


	5. Come Fly Away

I awoke to an alarm the next morning and groaned as I fell out of bed, hitting my head against the cold wood of the floor. After a few choice swear words, I sat up and rubbed my head and the lights flickered on before my hand landed on a piece of paper. I grabbed it and held it up to my sleep filled eyes, finally realizing it was a schedule for the day. Breakfast, training, (including the scientists who still needed to keep in their prime conditions) meeting with the Arbiter, no big deal.

I groaned, rubbed my eyes and sat up, slowly, joints popping here and there. I was certainly not as young as I used to be. I stumbled over to my wardrobe and found a rather plain outfit that I could train in. Hopefully I wouldn't get my ass handed to me on a silver platter because I hadn't trained in years and even little Penny looked like she could judo throw me across the dining hall.

I pulled my short hair back into a ponytail and tossed off the warm undershirt and performed my morning rituals which included a very cold stick of deodorant to the underarm before pulling on a sports bra and khaki shirt with loose fitting pants and an olive green jacket. Finally, I laced up a pair of boots, turned off the light and hurried down to the Mess Hall.

Penny greeted me sort of sourly but the rest of her friends seemed warm enough towards me even though Hoffman kept sending death glares my way. But life went on. The Arbiter and his companions didn't seem to be there that particular morning but that was alright with me.

However uneventful breakfast was, training was far more interesting. The Elites joined us here, gathering in their own little corner until one of the Sanghelli came up to me and nodded slightly.

"The Arbiter wishes to spar against you." He said and my eyes widened.

"I'm not much of a fighter," I responded and the Elite flared his mandibles in laughter.

"He wishes to teach you, if you will give him your consent."

"Uh…sure…if he promises to take it easy on me. Like I said, I was never much of a fighter."

"Do not fear, he has fought humans before."

That's what I was afraid of.

I leaned back and made a face as I changed from my workout clothes into my lab coat. I had gotten an ass whooping from the Arbiter. I would have died more than once if we had been using real energy swords but thankfully, we only used staffs used by the Sanghelli to train. We barely even spoke but watching his golden eyes, I felt like he wasn't looking just at me but into my deepest darkest secrets, stirring up the Shadow within me.

"Do you want to be sparring partners next time we train?" Penny asked as she pulled her own lab coat on. "The Arbiter…well…"

"Not need to tell me that I sucked," I chuckled and ran my hand through my short hair. "I already knew."

"I've seen worse."

"Uh huh, sure. What are you doing after this?"

"Well…I'm personally going to the lab to continue some research I've been working on but…" She thought for a moment, "If you need me, I'll stay with you."

I laughed slightly as we walked out of the woman's dressing room, wincing as the cool air hit our still damp bodies. Standing outside the door was Hoffman and several other decked out men and women.

"Dr. Emmaline Jackson, you have been instructed by the UNSC to come with us." Hoffman spat out and I arched an eyebrow, trying not to smile.

"Okay," I shrugged, waved to Penny who waved back and then followed them down the large hallway to parts unknown.

"You will wait in here for the Arbiter," Hoffman scowled as I passed her and I winked and grinned, knowing how badly this was setting her off. She, in a way, reminded me a lot of my sister who wasn't used to getting the short end of the deal. Hoffman acted like she owned the place, a lot like my dear sister and so I thought I might as well have a little fun.

"Thank you very much, Major Hoffman," I said politely and I swear you could see the veins throbbing underneath her temples. I followed a rather well decorated woman and she sat down at a table that looked out over Earth. Ah…Earth…

"Welcome, Dr. Jackson," A man sitting at the head of the giant table greeted me and I nodded back, "I heard that you've already met your betrothed several times over."

I glanced over at Hoffman who had a bit of a smirk playing on her lips. I turned back to the man and I saw his thin, hard lips that reminded me of six day old already chewed gum.

"Yes sir, I did," I told him truthfully and the man arched an eyebrow. I could see from his name tag his name was Lieutenant Mitchells.

"You should have kept your distance, Doctor."

"It's really hard to keep secrets on a platform this size, Sir. He would have found out who I was sooner or later."

"Later would have been good."

"Excuse me, but isn't he my fiancé? You should be happy that we've already met or this meeting would have been an awkward fest to the max." I responded with gusto.

Silence followed this response and I knew I had made a point. Finally, the woman who had guided me in spoke.

"He is here with his Elites."

The people sitting around the table stood up as the aliens came into the room. I felt my stomach contort once more and I felt the heat rise to my face. He glanced at me and then the three Elites took the seats that were left, facing Lieutenant Mitchells.

"Welcome, Arbiter," he said and the Elite nodded his head slightly before turning back to me. "There is…another reason for this meeting as well."

I leaned forward slightly, arching an eyebrow. What else could honestly tick me off more today?

"We have received a homing beacon that we believe came from the Master Chief's AI, Cortana right…" A screen popped up and we all could see the pinpoint in an area of stars. "This area has yet to be explored but if the Master Chief is truly there, we could bring him home and…Well…"

He trailed off and I found myself sneaking glances of the Arbiter out of the corner of my eye. He was toned, taut, as I had found from fighting him earlier that day. He had four mandibles and golden eyes that sparkled. I felt his own eyes flick to mine and I turned away, embarrassed that I had been caught sampling something that wasn't technically mine…yet.

"If the Chief was to be found that would be a dream come true." The woman said and I found myself agreeing with her. Of course it would be interesting to see who would be chosen to go on a mission so important…but everyone would fight tooth and nail to be the hero of the hero.

Mitchells turned back to the Arbiter. "Of course, you will take a team of Elites."

"It would be an honor to find an old friend," he spoke for the first time since coming into the room and suddenly, Mitchells turned to me.

"Doctor Jackson, you will be the residing scientist on the expedition, documenting whatever we find in this pocket of space."

I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. Me? A residing scientist in the matter? I wasn't much of a collector or even a documenter, but I had some experience in both, unfortunately. "It will be good for you and the Arbiter to get to know each other before you join each other in marriage when you get back."

I let my eyes swivel back to the Arbiter who looked back at me with probably the same expression I had on my face. Pure terror.

"Before we continue, can I ask you whether or not we'll be joined in the near future?" I asked suddenly and he arched an eyebrow that reminded me of a caterpillar, a big, fat fuzzy caterpillar that was white and fluffy. The caterpillar settled itself down once again before Mitchells spoke.

"The plan is to join you as soon as you get back however we can join you sooner if you wish."

"No thank you," I stammered before closing my eyes to keep the visions of me in a white wedding dress trembling at the altar next to a creature I didn't even love. Unfortunately, it didn't work too well and so I opened them again.

"Of course, you will have a team of researchers with you, Doctor." Mitchells continued and then looked back at the woman who had spoken. "What is our itinerary, Commander Cobb?"

"My plan is to leave in two days' time." She told Mitchells and he nodded. The group at the table, including the Arbiter continued speaking but I zoned out, trying to take in everything I heard. One, I was the residing scientist on an expedition to find someone that might already be dead. Two, I had a major thing for this guy who might be dead. Three, I was going searching for this guy who might be dead but I had a really big thing for WHILE I was technically engaged. Oh joy…why did my life have to be so damn confusing?!

I flopped back into my chair and let out a breath of air that probably was more noticeable than I meant it to be. Mitchells looked up from a rather complex star chart and arched his caterpillar eyebrows.

"Is there something you want to say, Doctor Jackson?"

"Uh…no, I'm just tired, that's all. Long day and all and it's not even over yet." I sheepishly shrugged and so Mitchells turned back to talking about his stupid star chart. I realized that Mitchells and I didn't share the same humor level and I decided right there and then that I didn't like him in the slightest.

However, after listening to them droning on and on about a strategic plan to get to where they needed to go and so on and so forth we were excused to lunch. As much as I hated to admit it, but I was the first one out of there, almost running into Hoffman who sneered at me.

"I heard you were the chief researcher on the expedition, Jack-off."

Oh, Jack-off, so horrible. What were we in, third grade? She had to be at least 25; she didn't need to act like a freaking ten year old. Of course, my own kid inside of me couldn't help but taking the bait. I smiled sweetly and then responded.

"Of course, Hoffman. It's too bad that you weren't invited let alone allowed into the conference room. By the way, the Arbiter is actually not that bad, now I see why you wanted his alien cock."

Without another word, I turned on my heel and tried to go down the hall but unfortunately, Hoffman had far more experience fighting than I had ever had and so the next thing I knew was a blooming pain in my left eye, a sharp snap in my nose and the taste of blood in my mouth. I stumbled back as Hoffman removed her fist from my face and smirked.

"Don't mess with me, Jack-Off." She smirked as she turned on her heel and pushed her way through the crowd gathering to see my gory mess of a face. I gingerly touched my now broken nose as pain shot through my entire face.

"Um…" I began to say but even the smallest sound came out as a big gargled bubble of syllables. Suddenly, someone's hand was on my shoulder and someone was holding up a shirt to my now crimson visage. They then steered me down a hall to get away from gawking soldiers and onlookers.

While we were walking down the hall however, I felt my feet give way underneath me. There was just so much blood and I wasn't very good with blood…

"No more…I can't go any farther…" I mumbled, blood dripping down my lips, filling every crevice and flooding my mouth with a taste like old pennies.

"You must keep going." Came a rather familiar voice and suddenly, my knees buckled and I felt myself being lifted up into a pair of rather scaly arms and I tucked my head into the shirt and sobbed. I knew that it was the Arbiter but I didn't care. Finally, through a haze of a rather dull throbbing and red, I felt myself being lowered onto a bed and that's when I passed out from causes unknown.


	6. Chapter 6

"Will she still be able to be our researcher?"

"Yes, we have injected her with the enzymes that will speed up the process of healing but she'll probably need quite a bit of sleep and fluids. She lost a lot of blood. How many times did she get hit?"

"Well…according to the Arbiter she got hit three times and we all know how tough our residential princess is."

"Hoffman did this?!"

"Yes, I wish we could not let her go to find the Master Chief but she's too valuable to not allow to go."

"Why did she find it necessary to attack the doctor?"

"She was supposed to be the woman the Arbiter was supposed to be betrothed to. Not that she was excited to be joined with him but she wanted to go down in the history books as the woman who singlehandedly forged the strongest connection between the Sanghelli and humans. However, Jackson was the prime candidate for the spot after Thel declined Hoffman. He said that he didn't want to spend the rest of his life with a cantankerous, cynical human."

"I wouldn't want to spend the rest of my life with her, either. So…that's why Hoffman doesn't like her?"

"I think there are other reasons but I don't think we're ever going to see those reasons…Or at least she would never tell a soul."

"That is extremely true. Did you see her eyelids twitch?"

"That wasn't a trick of the light? Are you sure?"

"Damn positive, I think that the honorable doctor is waking up."

I opened my left eye slowly and moaned. My mouth felt like it had spent a week in the Sahara Desert, my face was numb and my right eye was swollen shut.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Doctor Jackson, how are you feeling?" A man in army garb asked me and I moaned out a response that sounded something like 'ugh' but it was hard to form any words. Actually, what I really wanted to say was 'When I get my hands on that stupid bitch, I will take her down even if it costs me my own life!'

"Will you get her some water, Amber?" He asked the other person in the room and the small blonde nodded and hurried out of the room to get a glass. As soon as she got back, the cold glass was against my swollen lips and my mouth greedily tried to fill every crevice it could with the cold, sweet liquid. I came up for air and coughed violently as the water found its way into my lungs.

"I feel like a million bucks," I said hoarsely and smiled a bit at the two standing above me. In truth, my head was still swimming and my face hurt.

The man laughed and touched my shoulder. "Hoffman certainly hasn't gone on about hitting someone like that in a long time, well done."

"Well I can't say I did the same to her," I winced as I touched my numb nose. "What happened to her anyway?"

"She got her just desserts from Mitchells; let me assure you of that."

"But she's still going with us to wherever we're going?"

The man winced and then ran his hand through his hair. "She's…a valuable asset. Just stay out of each other's ways."

"Easier said than done," The woman named Amber laughed slightly and then pushed her colleague out of the way, "Dr. Gilbert wants you to gather your materials for the journey as soon as you get up and around, which will probably be in the next hour."

True to her word, I was up and moving around within the next couple of hours and getting checked out by the true medics and was given several more pills and potions to take during the day and then checked out to go gather my materials. Of course Penny was there, her eyes sparkling in concern.

"How are you feeling?" She asked, touching my shoulder gently.

I smiled at her but I guess that it came out more like a wince, "I've…been better but I feel alright. They gave me some enzymes to help speed up the process of healing."

She nodded as we continued down the hallway together. "Oh man, after the Arbiter got back from taking you to sick bay, he found Hoffman and all Hell broke loose. I actually think he sort of cares for you, a little bit."

I felt a blush rise to my cheeks slightly. Most men didn't even bother to take a good look at me. The Arbiter had taken time to go and open up a can of whoopass on Hoffman. However, I did wish I had the fighting skills to take her on. I HATED being helpless and that's what I seemed like more and more.

"Are you coming on the expedition?" I asked and she smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, apparently I'm working on some stuff with the dark matter surrounding the space between, see if there's something there we haven't found before."

"Are some of your friends coming?" I asked and she nodded, counting them off on her fingers.

"There's Rogan and Lydia and Katie might becoming for botany research." She explained as we rounded the corner into the lab. Jordynn was lit up like a Christmas tree, her slender body leaning over to one side.

"I heard about your fight with Major Hoffman," She said as we stepped through the glass doors.

"Hello to you too," I said sarcastically before finding a note on my desk telling me what to bring. I slid my USB card into my desktop and all the information was stored in the card instantly. Now I hoped that the ship we would be using had ports advanced enough for my research. Maybe we would discover a new species or…something.

"I heard that you can't fight to save your life." Jordynn continued and suddenly, I whipped around to face the AI.

"Listen to me and listen well. I am a scientist, I am a woman of mind over matter but soon, I will become an extremely powerful individual who can get you permanently offlined, you got that?"

I then stormed out of the room with Penny at my heels. We walked in silence until we reached my room. "When do we leave, Penny?"

"Well…you were in the sick bay for about 28 hours so we'll probably leave tomorrow morning, bright and early. Do you want to go get dinner or something?"

"I'll pass but thanks for the offer. I'm gonna go get some sleep. Hopefully by tomorrow morning I'll be better and then I won't be as much of a grouch."

She smiled and touched my uninjured cheek, "Don't worry, you're not a grouch to me." With that, she turned to walk back down the hallway towards the mess hall. I smiled slightly and then turned to back down to my room until I was stopped by an extremely tall individual.

"I'm surprised to see you moving around," The Arbiter told me as he changed his path to match mine. I tucked a strand of reddish-brown hair behind my ear and smiled.

"Well, I needed to pack for tomorrow." I told him, "And I had to get some things onto my USB chip." I help up the tiny thing and he nodded slowly, his mandibles opening slightly. We walked in silence for a few more moments before he spoke again.

"You aren't comfortable with this, are you?"

I stopped to look at him, "Well…yeah, sorry but I never thought I would be in an arranged marriage with an alien."

"I understand. I never believed that I would ever give myself up as a bargaining chip either." He told me truthfully and I felt myself blushing again.

"Thanks again for yesterday, I mean with getting me out of there and everything." I was trying to change the subject and I had feeling he knew that.

"I would have done the same for a fallen comrade anywhere," He put on the macho man outlook that didn't fit him very well at all and I smiled behind a closed fist. "Major Hoffman isn't the sort of human who…"

"I know, you don't need to tell me twice," I laughed slightly and then touched my nose that had suddenly started to tingle, "But again, thank you, for everything. I don't think anybody's ever done something that nice to me before."

"Again, you are a comrade and my betrothed; I will protect you until my dying breath. Here is your room. I bid you goodnight, Emmaline Jackson."

With that, he turned to go back down the hallway we had just come from leaving me to wonder what his true motives were and whether or not I could truly ever lower my heart's walls to let him penetrate.

The next thing I was aware of was the lights in my room and my throbbing face. I swore angrily as my hand knocked against my bottle of pain pills and sent them to the floor, little white tablets skidding every which way.

"Not my best wakeup call ever," I mumbled as I fell out of bed onto the cold floor, wincing as my knees hit the ground. I gathered up all the pills, stuck them back in the bottle and popped two that I had found under the bed into my mouth. Almost instantly, the throbbing in my face disappeared and I had the courage to look at myself.

The swelling in my face had gone down but the purple in my right eye and the bandages on the bridge of my nose reminded me of the turmoil of Hoffman's fists. I groaned and found a pair of khakis, a black shirt and my lab coat sitting on my dresser. I was guessing combat boots would be standard wear for this expedition.

When finally dressed, I grabbed the little pack they had allowed me to take the bare essentials like a toothbrush, deodorant and some other odds and ends and swung it over my shoulders.

"Okay universe, bring it on."

I stepped out of my room and moved through the throng of people on their way to parts unknown. I had to stop several people before I found where they were loading up the ship and finally, I found myself fall into step with Sargent Lopez who I had met on the first day.

_"Hola, mi amor!" _He grinned at me and bowed slightly and I found myself smiling back, the first time in several days. From my very limited amount of Spanish, I could make out the words 'hello, my love.'

"Hey Lopez," I greeted casually and he arched an eyebrow playfully.

"That's Sargent Lopez to you, Doctor Jackson."

I chuckled and rolled my eyes, "Oh I didn't know we weren't on that friendly of terms."

A new voice filled my ears and I was pleased to see my curly haired red head friend Penny hurrying towards us. "Hey guys! Your face is looking better, Em. I came to see you when you were in sick bay but you were fast asleep. I heard that Hoffman seriously got the heat from Mitchells though."

"Not enough to get her from coming to find the Chief," I said and she chuckled.

"Unfortunately, no. Do you have your computer?"

I pulled out the small chip and grinned at Penny. "I would never leave home without it."

We finally came out into a hangar that had hundreds of people running around, loading a rather giant ship that hung somewhere below the London. All the equipment and such was being loaded into smaller ships and those would be flown to the large vessel. From here, I could read the name and I smiled slightly when I read it.

_The Dancing Nile_ hung suspended in space and Penny tapped my shoulder.

"Come on, we need to get on a Pelican," She told me and so our trio hurried towards one that was still docked. The marine on the ship glanced at my garb and then looked at Penny and Lopez.

"You guys some of the scientists?" He asked, snapping his gum loudly. I internally rolled my eyes and then stepped forward.

"Yes, I'm Dr. Emmaline Jackson and this is Dr. Penny Waits." I explained and then glanced at Lopez who was grinning like an idiot. "What are you smiling at?"

"Hey Perkins."

"Lopez. You coming too?"

"Hell yeah, wouldn't miss it for the world!" Lopez and the marine slapped high fives before Lopez faced us. "This is Sargent Danny Perkins, my best friend in the whole world."

"Ladies," He held out his hand and winked at Penny who blushed slightly, "Just playing around with ya."

"Its fine," I responded quickly and Perkins hurried back out to talk to some other marines who were laughing at something their colleague had said. Lopez also meandered to join the laughing group, leaving Penny and I to fend for ourselves.

"Do you think he likes me?" She asked softly, her eyes turning to Perkins. I looked back at her and scoffed.

"You LIKE him?! He didn't even know your name! Besides, I'm the wrong person to ask. I only had one boyfriend my entire life and when he liked me, he blatantly told me up front that he wanted me to be his girlfriend."

"Oh, you had a boyfriend? An old flame perhaps?" She leaned forward to hear about my love life…or lack thereof.

"Well…he's dead now…Look, can we please not talk about it?" I asked and her eyes widened slightly.

"Yeah, sorry about that." We sat in silence for a little while longer before she spoke again, "I had a beau once too. He had me wrapped around his little finger until he found a prettier, smarter girl than me. Then he packed up his bags and left without another word. It was tough but I finally got over it."

I grabbed Penny's hands suddenly and looked deep into her green eyes, "Penny, I have decided that men are stupid and we will become lesbian and marry each other."

"Dude is there gonna be some girl on girl action cause if there is I am TOTALLY getting my camera." Lopez had plunked down next to me and his friend Perkins on Penny's right. She suddenly whipped her hands out and looked down, blushing.

Suddenly, a voice from the cockpit was heard over the intercoms and we winced as it crackled slightly with every S the pilot spoke.

"Attention, we are now ready to leave the London. Please take your seats."

Those who were still lingering by the door stepped through and those who couldn't find a seat left without another word. We buckled in and tucked our belongings in between our legs to keep them from bumping around.

"I hate space travel," Penny murmured, grasping my hand, "It makes me so dizzy."

"I used to want to get off of earth so badly it hurt;" I muttered, "Now I'd do anything to go back."

Penny looked at me and her eyes sparkled in the light of the millions of stars, "What was his name?"

"What?"

"Your boyfriend, what was his name?"

I hesitated and then let go of her hand to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear, "His name was Tyler and I loved him with all my heart. I miss him but I know that I can't let that get in the way of my union with the Arbiter."

We dropped out of the hangar of the London with a stomach wobbling drop and glided over to _The Dancing Nile, _hanging precariously in the airless emptiness. It made my heart ache so badly, thinking about him.

* * *

_ "Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?" He asked, wrapping his arms around my waist. I rested my own arms on top of his and closed my eyes, leaning back to take in his delicious smell. He really was everything I could ever ask for. _

_ "I most definitely have," I said, watching his eyes sparkle with the cosmos that was his soul. He glanced down at me and he gave me one of his knee breaking grins._

_ "Don't flatter me, Em." _

_ I laughed and kissed him on the jaw. "It's only the truth, Ty. You're too handsome for your own good." _

_ "Then you're too gorgeous…" _

* * *

"Hey, Emmaline, we're on the Nile," Penny was shaking me as I came out of my stupor and saw the marines filing out, grabbing their bags and laughing. I shook myself out of my daydream and stood up, ready to take on whatever needed to be done.

"Yeah, let's go," I said, slinging my backpack over my shoulder. We followed the marines out of the Pelican and as soon as I stepped through the airtight door, I was bombarded with a man. He looked very stressed out with a close crew cut and dark chestnut colored skin.

"Doctor Jackson?" He asked and I nodded in agreement, "Oh thank God you're here! I'm Sargent Major Bates and we need you to break up the scientists into their designated teams."

"Designated…what? How come I wasn't aware of this?" I demanded and Bates rolled his eyes.

"Well you were supposed to be told." His eyes flicked to Penny, "And this is Dr. Waits, I presume?"

"Yes Sir," She nodded and he arched an eyebrow.

"Well, I guess you could come too," We followed him down the hallway, ignoring the other marines who milled around, waiting to have our journey begin. Finally, it let out into a room that housed men and women who all were wearing white lab coats. They differed from each other so immensely, I was almost sure that each ethnicity, each race, each age group was present. Suddenly, Bates touched his ear and his voice was amplified.

"Attention! Attention!" Heads snapped up from conversations and lab equipment to watch our party. One young woman caught my attention right off the bat. She couldn't have been more than 22 or 23 years old with a nose ring, dreads and almond shaped eyes. She was holding a clipboard and arched an impossibly sleek eyebrow as she watched us enter the room. This was one girl who wasn't used to authority. "Can I have your attention please? This is Dr. Emmaline Jackson and Dr. Penny Waits. Dr. Jackson will be your supervisor on this expedition so listen to her, you got that?!"

Mumbles of 'yeah, whatever' and even a few 'suck my cocks' followed this request and I felt my ears heat up. Only the girl with the dreads stepped up and I could see in her eyes that she wasn't too impressed by my standing.

"So, you're Dr. Emmaline Jackson? I've been studying your papers for about four years now. I'm Rachel Oster, PhD in Social and Cultural sciences and your work…"

"Well good, you two can talk all about papers later," Bates interjected before speaking again. "Anyway, Dr. Jackson will be assigning teams of scientists and each one will have a certain job and leaders." He handed me the clipboard and then nodded to the scientists. "Good luck, you'll need it."

He then turned on his heel and marched out the door leaving me with Penny and about fifty really ticked-off looking people. "Uh, well…as you probably already know I'm Dr. Em Jackson, and since I have no idea what your areas of expertise are I'm gonna pass around this clipboard and everyone will write down their name and their major. Can you do that for me?"

There were a few mumbles but most nodded and so I handed Dr. Oster the clipboard where she began scribbling furiously down her name and her major, Social and Cultural Sciences. Why in the world did they have people like us on the team if we didn't even know what we were studying?! I glimpsed as the clipboard went around. Botanists, chemists, lots of physicists, microbiologist, zoologists, astronomers and a handful of random scientists. Why were there so many?

"Why are there so many of you?" I asked softly as the clipboard was passed back to me.

"We were told to come into the mission without an expectation and since they're not even sure what they were going to find, they made sure to cover the board." Rachel responded, picking off a piece of imaginary lint off her jacket.

"Makes sense," Penny murmured as I turned back to the group.

"Alright, give us a few minutes to get your teams organized. We will be placing you with scientists of the same majors, how old you are and how long you've been working in your field, do I make myself clear?"

As soon as I had gotten a response from most of them, Penny and I sat down at a table that was soon to be laden with the blood, sweat and tears of my scientists, trying to figure out who was with whom. Finally, after about fifteen minutes of sorting out the names of all the scientists, we had our groups.

"Okay, we are splitting you guys up into your majors. Botanists, your lead scientist is Dr. Eli Howard."

A tall man with a shiny bald hand raised his hand a group of people gathered around him, each taking their time to get there. They moved out of the way and slowly, I made my way down the list, reading names off. Finally, there were only a few remaining scientists that Penny took under her wing.

"Alright then…" I began only to be interrupted by an intercom.

_"Please prepare for launch at 1300 hours."_

"Okay, do whatever you need to do to get ready and be prepared to work at 0900 hours tomorrow morning," I told them and turned on my heel with Penny. We glanced at each other, realizing we had no idea how to set them to work. We walked through the corridors, trying to catch the attention of anyone running by us. We were not that lucky.

"Whatever…let's see if we can get to the bridge of this tin can," Penny joked and we followed the signs until we stumbled into a room with all the windows and hustle and bustle. We caught someone's eye and they reached over to greet us.

"Doctors Waits and Jackson, it's a pleasure," Commander Cobb shook both of our hands and we nodded respectfully.

"Likewise, Ma'am," I spoke and then after a brief pause spoke once more, "Permission to speak, Ma'am?"

She watched me from the corner of her eye and nodded, "What do you expect to do with a handful of scientists? I could get far more done with just a few with specialized talents. You've given me complete chaos."

"We didn't know what to expect, Dr. Jackson so we gave you the best in each category from each corner of the planet Earth. Unfortunately we couldn't get any from others but we've got some of the greatest."

"Yes, but I could get done with one specific scientist from each grouping, not gobbledygook, no offense Ma'am."

"None taken but you will be spending more of your time with the Arbiter, anyway. He told me about your…inexperience with hand to hand combat and I couldn't agree with him more to teach you more about fighting. You will train with him every day while we're on the ship from 0600 hours to 0900 hours."

"But…"

"Don't say another word, Jackson. You and the Arbiter need to spend some time together. Do you even know his real name?"

I had to admit I didn't so I just shrugged, "No, Ma'me, I never asked."

She smirked slightly and then nodded to two empty seats. "Take a seat, Doctors, we have a ship to launch. Gentleman, make the announcement. We're going to go save the Master Chief."


	7. Death of a Star

The next morning we were awoken with the promise of a decent cup of coffee and breakfast and so I flopped out of my rather uncomfortable bunk and onto the floor. Muttering a few choice swear words, I tugged my hair into a short ponytail and threw one of my boots at Penny's head.

"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty," I laughed as her fluff of red hair came out of her little cocoon of tangled blankets. "I'll see you when the day actually starts. I have early morning reps with the Arbiter."

"Okay, have fun," She rolled back over and was sawing logs in no time. I rolled my eyes and then made my way around the other scientists who were stumbling out of their own bunks, tying their short hair back into ponytails or just leaving it floating free around their faces. They too would also go through the same thing I would go through but with actual sparring partners.

I stepped into the bright hallway and made my way from the barracks, following a map that had been programmed into my computer until I stood outside the exercise room, before plugging in the access code. The door opened with a hiss and I stepped inside with caution. Who knew what the Arbiter had in store for our training session? It did happen to be alone.

"Hello?" I called out into the empty room but only my echo greeted me. I took a step onto the squishy pads and looked around before deciding nobody was there. I turned to go but heard something unsheathe itself and so I turned back, only to duck out of the way as a rather large pole came out of nowhere, almost connecting with my head!

I made a noise of surprise and suddenly felt myself falling down because something had tripped me. I went sprawling, face up and suddenly, I felt something on my left, then my right and slowly, an energy sword slipped its way about a centimeter from my face, almost taking off my nose completely. After about five seconds of my heart hammering in my throat, the face of my attacker was known.

"I could have just killed you there," he responded as he resheathed his energy sword and moved off of me.

"What the hell were you thinking?! You know I can't defend myself!" I hissed before grabbing a stick and testing its weight. "I thought we were going to teach me how to fight not beat me up!"

He chuckled and tested the weight of the pole. "The point is to teach you how to stay alive and to do that; I must teach you how to defend yourself. You did a rather poor job doing so."

"Well maybe if I got a little more warning, I could prepare myself a little better." I put a hand on my hip and arched an eyebrow, "Wouldn't you agree with me?"

He watched me, scrutinizing my every move with his strange eyes. They were different than most Sanghelli but they were lovely nonetheless. "You could just learn to defend yourself."

"And that's exactly why I'm here," I retorted, angry and embarrassed by his attack. "Now will you please teach me?"

"I shall but for a price."

"Okay, what do you want?"

His mandibles twitched slightly. "For each hit you get through my defenses, I will answer a question; I will keep nothing a secret. For each hit you get through…"

He didn't even have time to react before I smacked him on the top of the head. He arched an eyebrow ridge and his eyes narrowed.

"I didn't finish what I was saying."

"I already knew what you were going to say and so I get to ask a question. What's your real name?"

He paused for a moment before responding to my question, retaliating with reflexes so fast, he was able to strike my arm.

"I am Thel Vadam, Arbiter of the Covenant and I believe that you owe me an answer of your own…"

* * *

The question, what my favorite place in the world was, was one on many that were spoken during our two weeks of searching for the Chief. Of course, I got several of my own answers out of him and our days were spent mostly together and slowly but surely, I began to feel something stir in my belly whenever I was with him. Could it be possible that I was beginning to have feelings for him?

Afternoons were spent with my team mates and learning more about the places that we explored. I barely saw Penny anymore due to the fact that she and two other young men she had wrapped around her finger (whether she knew it or not) were studying rather high amounts of dark matter in the area. The way she spoke about it at meal times was too much for me to comprehend but at least my friend was excited.

However, it was an afternoon three weeks into our exploration that I felt my relationship with Thel began to really turn a corner. It was also a day that changed my own life forever.

We were sparring, like we did every morning and he slipped his pole through a hole in my defense. I swore angrily and he watched me as if I was a bird and he was the cat.

"Tell me about this man in your life before." He asked and I felt my stomach contort slightly. I lowered my staff and found myself blushing slightly.

"He wasn't just in my life, he was my life." I blushed slightly as I realized I was rambling, "He was killed on Installation 04 during the invasion of the Flood."

"What was his name?"

"I called him Ty but his real name was Tyler."

"And did you have contact with this…Tyler?"

I snapped my head back to him, questions flying through my brain. Did he mean what I thought me meant? Did I sleep with Ty?!

"Yes, if I think what you're implying is true, I slept with Ty. He was my first and certainly not my last, if that's what you're asking." I gripped the pole, suddenly mad. He had no right to know what I had done with someone who had died so long ago. "You have no right to ask me that. Besides, you're out of questions, Thel."

He chuckled softly and raised the staff. "I do believe you are correct, Dr. Jackson. Be on your guard."

The staff swung towards my knees, but I smacked the wooden pole away and drove a jab that was dodged into the crook of his arm. Suddenly, I felt the whoosh of his own staff almost hit my arm and I just barely parried it, taking a step backwards to avoid be smacked by the flying stick. Suddenly, a great voice drowned out any further notion of training.

_"Dr. Jackson, you're needed on the bridge ASAP,"_ Came a rather harsh male voice and the staff dropped my side and I watched the Arbiter for a few moments, making sure that he wouldn't try and get in a cheap shot. When I was convinced he wouldn't, I turned to put the staff back in the equipment room.

"Don't mind me, just going off to save the world is all," I said as I put away my staff. I heard him come up from behind me and I turned around, expecting him to give me his rod. "Well?"

He handed me his own stick and I placed it back on the wall, but not before I noticed our hands brushed against each other's rather softly. However, this was enough to send a rather gnarly bolt of electricity through my body. "Um…thanks…"

He nodded but then retreated, as if I had done something wrong, "Did I say something?" I asked before shutting the door and turning back to him, hands on hips.

"No, nothing, I was just…thinking."

"About?"

"About your Tyler. About how you…for lack of a better word in your language, slept with him."

I felt my cheeks flush quickly. "Excuse me but we WERE going to get married before he had to go and get blown up on Installation 004!" I felt my blush transform into tears and I quickly blinked them away before continuing. I didn't mean to get this upset but he really didn't have the right to say those things…even if they were true. Ah well.

I took a step forward and jabbed a finger into his armor, "Besides, it's not like aliens don't have a damn sex life! I know your kind, Thel, I know how you act."

I turned to go but suddenly, I was thrown backwards against the wall and I gasped as I felt Thel's weight on me, but not crushing me.

"You don't know my kind, Emmaline, you don't know what we're capable of doing," He purred, his head dangerously close to mine. I was amazed he could pin me to the wall with only one arm but that was the Sanghelli way, sweeping us human girls off our feet, one strange pickup line at a time. Ah well. If I was going be married to this SOB, might as well fall for his stupid little mysterious little one-liners.

Suddenly his hands were gripping my hips, forcing me to wrap my legs around him and my arms around his shoulders. Damn him for making my voice catch in my throat.

"And you…you don't know me," I managed to get out, feeling the blush that had once threatened to fall as tears curl back down my cheeks like phantoms in the mist. Slowly, he lowered his head towards my neck and brushed his mandibles against the delicate flesh, sending goose bumps up and down my naked arms.

_"Oh, but I do, my flower," _It took me a minute to realize that he was speaking in Sanghelli. _"I know what you want at this moment. Don't deny your arousal." _

His mandibles slowly closed around my neck and I felt my body stiffen as his long, moist tongue dipped into the hollow of my throat, my legs tightening around him subconsciously. Stupid aliens from stupid other worlds…He was totally right of course. My stomach felt like it was a spring about to be released as I tried to suppress a whimper that was building in my throat.

His hand slid from my hip to the small of my back, pulling me closer to him. I didn't hesitate but grab his shoulders to keep my support. Stupid aliens…from…damn, he was good. His teeth nipped at the side of my neck and I almost cried out in pleasure. If he was sending me this far to edge before even touching me…We were in trouble.

Suddenly, a voice over the speaker system was heard again, _"Dr. Jackson, we need you on the bridge on the double." _

Thel dropped me to my jelly knees and he had to catch me to keep me from falling over.

"I…um…yeah…" I tried to speak but my tongue was nothing but a pile of bricks, unwilling to move. "I'll see you later."

I turned on my heel and the doors opened silently, leaving the Arbiter alone in the workout room.

"We've found something that might have the remains of the Master Chief's ship," Someone was telling me as I sat around the table with my team that included several chemists, a botanist, Penny, and a handful of other scientists. "We believe that it's a Shield World, a world that was used to preserve the Forerunner species when the Flood threatened the universe as a place of last resort to escape the rings."

Across from us was an array of pictures that all had one thing in common. Each one had a rather ominous looking planet that was lit up from different angles.

"Do we know anything about it?" One of my chemists asked and the man arched an eyebrow and shook his head.

"That's where your team comes in, Jackson. We want to know whatever we can about this planet, we want to find out if we can land on it and whether or not humans can survive on its exterior. This is where we're getting the readings from the Chief's ship. We believe it's his AI, Cortana but if so, she probably would have gone insane years ago. I hope we don't run across her."

I nodded and motioned to my team. "Alright, we'll check this out. Penny, you get the others in here and we'll discuss our tactics of trying to measure the planet's surface, carbon dioxide levels, oxygen, the whole nine yards."

"Alright Dr. Jackson, we'll just keep circling the planet until..." Suddenly, the lights began to flicker. "What the hell?!"

"ALL PERSONNEL, PLEASE REPORT TO YOUR STATIONS! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! ALL SCIENTISTS, REPORT TO THE BRIDGE ASAP!"

"What's going on?!" I demanded as we hurried our way out of the little room off the side of the bridge. Was it my imagination or was the ship tilting ever so slightly to the left? We hurried out and I saw Commander Cobb watching a screen with furrowed brows and speaking to a male AI.

"What is this 'tractor beam' of sorts doing, Jasper?" She demanded and a screen popped up, showing the ship.

"It's pulling us towards the planet, Ma'am, it's as simple as that," He spoke in a grave voice. "I'm firing up all our backup engines but it's just too strong. We're trying to calibrate away from it right now."

She turned from the AI and then to the expanding group. Her eyes were full of worry and she was smoking a cigarette.

"You geeks may want to start checking out this planet as fast as you can because it looks like we're going in for an emergency landing. We're being pulled in by a gravity field and can't seem to get back out so we have to hurry and find out as much as we can in about two hours. Can you handle that?"

"We can certainly try," Penny said positively and her eyes flicked to my friend.

"Try isn't something we have on our side, Waits. Either you figure out what's down there or we're all dead."


	8. Fear of a Blank Planet

An hour and a half later we rushed back through the halls, ignoring everyone around us. With the help of several AIs and screaming, we had come to a conclusion we had scrawled down on several sheets of paper. We hurried back to the bridge where Cobb was still trying to keep complete and utter control of the ship. Even Jasper's translucent forehead was sweaty with the work load.

"We've come up with what the planet exterior holds," I gasped and laid all our calculations out onto the war table. "The planet is livable, we believe with a rainforest terrain covering most of the planet. However, most of the planet is covered in water or something similar, we're not sure but we believe that if it's not water, there's enough on the Dancing Nile to supply our men with water for at least a month. However, the atmosphere resembles quite a bit of that on earth, meaning that it is breathable." I concluded pulling up the findings and tucking them into a manila folder.

Cobb nodded towards my team, her face grim, "I pray to whatever God has kept me out of trouble for the past forty years that your team is right, Jackson because we're out of time."

She looked over to Jasper, "Search for a safe plot of earth to land. Preferably close to the Chief's signal but right now, just get us to that planet and keep us alive."

"Yes, Commander Cobb. Do you want me to tell the crew to batten down the hatches?"

"No, I'll do it. You just look for a space to land." She said gravely before picking up an intercom and slowly pressing a little red button. "All personnel this is your captain speaking. We are activating an emergency landing to an unknown planet we have been circling for a little less than three hours. We believe that the face of the planet is hospitable but for now, strap yourselves in and pray to whatever God you believe in because we need all the help we're gonna get. If we don't make this one I just want to say…thank you for being the best crew a captain could ask for."

She turned back to us and nodded to Jasper. "Give them a few more minutes and then turn off the thrusters until we are 10,000 yards above the surface of the planet. We'll play by ear then, what do you think, Dr. Jackson?"

I felt my eyes widen and I felt myself shrugging, "I'm…not sure, Ma'me. I'm no engineer."

She arched an eyebrow and inhaled her cigarette before tossing it to the floor and stamping it out with the heel of her boot. "I just wanted to make sure the plan didn't sound as daft as I thought it might. Unfortunately, it did."

I tried to smile but all that came out of my voice box sounded a little bit like a sob.

"Oh, buck up Jackson. We'll either be looking for the Chief or dead in no time so consider yourself lucky! Okay Jasper, start turning off thrusters and angle the ship towards the planet's surface."

"Yes Commander," He spoke in his deep voice before I felt the deep rumble of the engines turning off below my feet. The ship began to angle down and ship began to fly towards the cold surface of the cloudy planet. It was only when I was almost thrown off my feet did I realize I wasn't strapped in.

"HANG ON EVERYBODY! WE'RE COMING IN FOR A LANDING!" Cobb screamed as she tried to angle the ship the way she wanted it to go. I grabbed Penny's hand and slammed my eyes shut. I wish I could say I was brave but I wasn't. I didn't want to die. Not after I realized that Thel was feeling something for me too.

Someone screamed as glass shattered and I think it was me. My grip tightened until I was almost sure there was no more circulation flowing through her hand.

"THEL!" I screamed as Cobb yelled, "JASPER, TURN ON THE ENGINES!"

"I CAN'T! THE PULL IS TOO STRONG!" He cried back and the captain turned to everyone in the bridge, "GET BACK! THE BRIDGE WILL BE DESTROYED!"

Penny yanked me to my feet and we attempted to move back towards the part of the ship that would be safe. Cobb and Jasper were doing a fantastic job of leveling it out, though.

The ground approached ridiculously fast and as we flew through clouds and empty space, I realized that this might be the last few seconds of my life.

"ALL PERSONNEL, MOVE TO THE BACK OF THE SHIP!" Cobb screamed into her intercom as we pulled and shoved our way to the door. Suddenly, the clouds gave way to a large expanse of ocean with a shore of white and green. "JASPER! LAND US THERE!" She yelled and Jasper shouted something that sounded remarkably similar to a cuss word that would have gotten me three weeks of probation at the lab back home. Suddenly, the ship was thrown headlong into the sand and Cobb was thrown back like a ragdoll.

"COBB!" Penny shrieked and tried to rush forward but unfortunately, the ship suddenly jarred to a rather painful stop and we were sent flying forward into a wall and I hit my head extremely hard before I heard a rather sharp SNAP from somewhere to my left. Pain blossomed in my temples and I felt my eyes closing as I realized that I had given myself a concussion.

"_Oh dear, I hope Thel's alright," _Was my last thought before my brain gave up its fight and I slipped into a sweet, dreamy blackness that reminded me of the waves of an ink ocean.

Colors swirled in and out of my vision as my world came back into focus and I found myself lying on a rather generic cot on a rather nice tropical beach with plants I had never seen before nor could barely imagine. A very tired looking man noticed that I had opened my eyes and came over to me before I could start asking questions.

"Ah, Dr. Jackson, welcome back to the land of the living." He nodded and tried to sit up, resulting in a very nasty headache.

"Ugh…ah…So much pain…where are we?" I asked between gritted teeth and the man laughed sourly.

"I wish I knew, Doctor." He smiled bitterly at me and then sat on the end of my cot, "Commander Cobb is dead. She died in the collision so she didn't feel anything but still…" He pursed his lips and then looked down at the ground, "She was a good woman, and she didn't deserve to die the way she did."

I was silent for a moment. This was Dr. Liam Beckman, a medical doctor who had always regarded the captain as a sister. "I'm…so sorry, Beckman. I know how close you two were."

He glanced at me and then his smile turned into one of sadness and I could see his eyes glistening in the coming darkness. "It's alright, Jackson, it's another casualty I can work with. Now you on the other hand have a rather nasty concussion. We found you all passed out pretty close to the bridge but it seems like you were thrown forward but fortunately, I've been working on that so it's not as bad as it was. At least you're awake now."

Suddenly, my stomach dropped to my feet and I attempted to sit up again except this time I ignored the pain shooting through my head. "Where's Thel?" I demanded in a voice that was sturdier than I had expected.

Beckman flicked his eyes behind me and I forced my body to turn even though it was screaming in agony. He looked good, considering we had crash landed on some Godforsaken planet and he looked down at me with his peculiar eyes.

"Dr. Jackson," he clipped as he nodded curtly and I felt myself blushing faintly, "I am glad to see that you are able to sit up again." He glanced towards the leviathan now sitting in the sand, still smoking in places near the front, "The ship took more damage than anyone thought it would."

"Indeed it did," The physician too turned his head towards the Dancing Nile and his eyes graced its massive hulk, "The mechanics aren't even sure if they can get it up and running again. The only thing we've been able to put together is the radio and even that's not working properly. If Reach was still inhabited…" His gaze turned into something a little more hostile as he glared at the Arbiter but Thel didn't really seem to be watching the doctor. Actually, he seemed more concerned with me.

My blush deepened as I remembered the sweet nothings we had shared in the training room which seemed like so long ago. Truthfully, I wished Beckman would leave so we could continue whatever he had been planning.

"Doctors, I must return to my brothers and examine the damage of our own equipment." He said and stood from my bedside and then, he turned on his heel and I watched him go, my eyes drifting to his well-toned backside.

"I don't trust him," Beckman said suddenly, "if it weren't for his lot, we wouldn't be here anyway, looking for nothing but a ghost," He scowled in the direction that Thel had gone and I turned my screaming head back in his direction.

"The Master Chief isn't dead," I snapped angrily, before commenting snidely, "I see the UNSC didn't hire you for your attitude, Beckman."

I could tell that really hurt his feelings from the way he held himself after the comment, "Excuse me, Dr. Jackson; I believe I have more patients to take care of that aren't as…ignorant to the situation."

I watched with grim satisfaction as he left carrying himself as if he had a stick up his ass. I laughed but then winced as pain shot through my skull. Well…I guess I wasn't getting anymore of his help today.

I looked around the beach, trying to see something beyond the ship but it was beyond impossible. All I remember was a rather green ocean with perfect white beaches, which we seemed to be lying on. I moved my body to glance at the other side and saw an immense expanse of dark jungle that went on as far as the eye could see. The jungles were punctured by giant mountains that touched the dancing orange and red clouds that floated across the sky.

I turned my attention back to the jungle. The trees were like nothing I had ever seen before. They were tall and seemed to almost rubbery. I remembered my great grandmother showing me a terribly done film on an old projector that was over 300 years old called a DVD player. The movie was called "Avatar" and I guess in its day it was an extremely big hit. Of course, that was five hundred plus years ago. Why would anyone want to watch a film when you could live and breathe the action?

The trees and plants reminded me vaguely of those from the movie except now…they were here and I was too.

I sighed and leaned back into my cot. I could hear Penny talking with another scientist farther away but it was soon lost in the throngs of other noises that I heard. The speech of soldiers, the mechanical whirr of machinery, the words of the medics as they made their rounds to other patients, and other noises that reminded me that I wasn't on Earth anymore.

The pang hit me harder than I expected it to. I actually missed my little round ball of water. Silly, I know but I remembered the first time that I had left Earth. I had been with Ty and Rachel, a girl that I had met and had become fast friends with in basic.

"Dr. Jackson," A new voice interrupted my thoughts and I opened my eyes to see Lopez standing over me with a stupid grin on his face. "Hey, how are you feeling? You don't look like a ghost anymore, so that's a big improvement. I heard that you and the good doctor Beckman got into a little spat about the MC."

I snorted and rolled my eyes, regretting it from the amount of pain, "You know what? He doesn't need to be such a butthead about the whole thing. He's gonna be taking care of people and the soldiers are going to be searching for the Chief. He doesn't even need to go out in that jungle."

"Well…He actually wants to…" Lopez said sheepishly and I sat up straight, crying out as the pain hit full force, "Calm down, Doc! You're not well enough to sit up yet!"

"The bastard's going into the jungle?! Who's in charge now?!"

"Cobb's second in command, Sargent Major Holmes and you all know how bad Holmes wants it up the butt from Beckman."

I winced and rubbed my temples to keep down the throbbing. That was definitely one thing I didn't want to hear, "I didn't need to know about Holmes' secret wet dreams about our favorite doctor."

Lopez gave another crooked grin and the crossed his hands over his chest, "Look, I was talking to him and even though he doesn't like you, he wants to continue treatment on you…actually, no, that's a lie, HOLMES wants your skills out there, cataloguing local species and he wants Penny to come with you so actually, Beckman has nothing to do with it."

I closed my eyes and prayed he wouldn't say anything for a few moments. Of course, those dreams were canceled out as quickly as they started.

"So…are you hungry?"

I opened an eye and they glanced up at the Latino, "Oh wonderful. You're not taking me out to dinner, are you? Because I'm engaged to an alien who would probably tear you in half if he knew what you were asking." I finished the statement with a grin to show I was kidding.

Lopez rolled his eyes and chuckled, "No ma'am, just wanted to know if I could do something for you, that's all."

I glanced around and then back towards the ship, "I was gonna ask…where are they doing food now? I could only imagine how you do meals on a beach."

Lopez arched an eyebrow and then crossed his arms over his chest, "They're still doing meals in the Nile but we can bring them out here if we bring back the dishes. The AI Jasper is doing a pretty good job of running a tight ship…even if Holmes isn't."

I snorted at this last comment and then closed my eyes once again to think about our predicament. We were in the middle of an unexplored section of the universe, stranded on a planet we weren't sure would have the means to support us…What would happen to us if we weren't saved?

As I drifted into a troubled sleep, I had the horrible realization that if we were never rescued, I would be stuck on a planet with the same people for the rest of my life…if I survived that long.


	9. Forerunners

~One week Later~

I survived a week. Or…just barely. Thel kept my company when he could but most of the time, him and his Elites stayed within their little cluster, which was to be expected from him. Penny, Lopez, my admirer, Rachel Oster who discussed my papers with me more in depth than most of my colleagues ever had and even Holmes, the good looking Sargent Major came over to talk to me about the coming mission into the unknown jungles to search for food, the Master Chief and life in general. We could hear it from the beach each night. On the first night, they had brought those who stayed out in the beaches on their cots into the Nile but when they figured there was nothing that wanted to kill us, they left us outside, which probably bothered some of the men and women who weren't open to sleeping outside but I rather enjoyed it. I liked looking up at the stars that sparkled in the folds of black that glided across my vision.

When I finally was able to get out of bed, the first thing I was introduced to was…Jasper. I didn't know the AI personally but he amused me with his prim and proper ways and I know I would like him better than I had Jordynn, the AI back on the London.

"Okay Jas, talk to us," I said one afternoon about a day after getting out of bed. The scientists had come to calling him Jas much to his annoyance and I had been credited to that.

He arched an eyebrow and pursed his lips, ignoring the jab, "Well, I believe the first course of action is looking for water, Dr. Jackson and I believe that I have pinpointed that."

In the dim room there was not only me but Thel, Holmes, Penny and Hoffman who kept giving me dirty looks. My eye had considerably healed up after our fight on the London but was still a little yellow around the edges.

"Where is it at, Jasper?" Holmes asked, leaning forward to speak to the AI.

"Well…I have uploaded the maps to it onto your GPS and I believe that it's only a seven hour journey by foot but it only has to be about forty five minutes by Warthog. However, it's your choice whether or not you will use transportation, Sargent Major."

He glanced to me and then nodded, "Ask the scientist. I don't wanna risk killing any of her precious flowers."

He gave me a smile to show he was kidding but that jab sort of pissed me off. I was a CULTURAL SCIENTIST not a BOTANIST. Holmes was a bit cocky on his best days but that was almost too much. For that, I knew we would take the Hog. I would show him I wasn't afraid to hurt the pretty little flowers.

"Let's take the car. We can get more gear out that way and it will be quicker to haul the water back." I said with a glance at Jasper who nodded.

"I'll call for the mechanics to warm the engines up for you."

"Sounds good. I'll get the rest of my team," Hoffman stood up as did Holmes who gave her a look. However, Hoffman didn't even acknowledge his existence. Was there something there? Maybe Holmes would make his move, Hoffman could get laid and in general be a whole heck of a lot nicer. It seemed like she had been getting nastier but she wouldn't again touch me because of Thel.

I found myself on the same car as Thel who allowed me to drive. I arched an eyebrow and then slipped into the driver's seat.

"What? Not in the mood to go plowing through an unknown jungle?"

He turned his head towards the jungle and I could almost see worry etched into his face, "There's something out there, I can almost smell it."

"What does it smell like?"

He turned back to me and narrowed his eyes, "It smells like trouble."

I watched him for a few moments and then turned back towards the jungle. It did seem to be strangely quiet, the chirrups and howls that had become so transfixed into our everyday lives seemed to have vanished, as if the forest was holding its breath. What was in the shadows of the trees were so intent on keeping?

Suddenly, the roar of another engine not far off cut into my thoughts of secrets in the thicket and such and I glanced over to see Hoffman in one car and Holmes in another. Hoffman honked the horn and sneered at me.

"Are you just going to sit there and daydream or are we going to go find this water?" She demanded and I felt a heat rise to my cheeks.

"Whatever," I mumbled and I felt Thel's eyes on me.

"Do you want me to operate the car?" He asked quietly and I snapped, probably a little too quickly,

"No, I don't. Thanks for asking but I don't." I put my foot on the gas and we began to move forward into the silent jungle. Our Warthogs cut through the dense foliage like it was nothing and I winced as I realized that we were probably killing millions of things that didn't know to get out of the way of the giant cars that barreled their way through the shadowy green.

After some time of driving Thel looked at me with his strange eyes and I didn't look over, knowing exactly what he would say.

"Not a good time to talk about this," I grumped and he touched my arm and I felt myself stiffen at his touch. I hadn't felt it in so long.

"Will you communicate with me at least?" He asked in his knee weakening voice.

I snorted at grimaced as a tree branch grazed my ear. I hoped to high Heaven that it wasn't poisonous.

"I'm sorry I snapped, Thel. I really, really am but Hoffman…" I gritted my teeth to keep the fountain of profanity from escaping my lips. "…She sets me on edge. I want to get her back for what she did to me."

I knew the soldiers in the back were listening intently to our conversation but I didn't care. He was silent for a moment and I felt him squeeze my arm gently. "You are my partner, my mate and my friend…perhaps more. I will help you regain your honor in any way I can."

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and I realized how much The Arbiter really honestly meant to me. He was willing to help me regain what I had lost. Was I falling in love with him?

"Thank you, truly, you're more than I could ever ask for." I found my voice full of sincerity as we drove in silence. The world around us turned into blissful warmth as animals ran from our tires.

"Hold on…Stop the car." Thel murmured as we rocked over the rough terrain. I slowly eased to a crawl and the other cars behind me also slowed.

"Hey, what gives, Jack-Ass?" Hoffman snorted at her joke but I just flipped her off. She called me another name but as soon as the Arbiter stepped out of the Warthog to dash into the woods towards something that had a gentle luster about it.

"What's going on, Jackson?" Holmes demanded as I got out of the car and began to follow Thel. "Where did the Arbiter go?"

"I'm not sure," I admitted slowly, "He went somewhere, though."

We followed the trail he had left through the thicket until we too reached the large structure that gave me major déjà vu. The marks on the building confirmed my thoughts.

It was large built from grey material that was smaller than most I had seen on Halo but the edifice was familiar enough to know who had built it.

"This is Forerunner architecture," I breathed, touching the cool side of the wall.

"They built all the way out here?" A soldier asked and suddenly Thel fell to his knees and began to murmur something that I knew instantly.

"Yeah," I said, letting my hand drop to my side. This was sacred to Thel, a part of the Covenant that still lived within him. The Sanghelli worshiped the Forerunners and the relics they left behind were like gold to them.

When he rejoined our group, his eyes were shining as if he had looked into the future. "I never knew the Forerunners went out this far. Of course...I should have realized when the Forward unto Dawn broke apart that…"

Suddenly, something rustled in the bushes that sounded bigger than an animal. I backed up into Thel and pulled out a pistol that I had received in case of an emergency. The soldiers also pulled out their guns aiming it to where the sound was coming from.

"I don't like this…" Holmes murmured until several creatures stepped out of the shadows and pointed rather large guns at us. They were tall, easily gracing seven feet in silver armor.

I didn't know what they were but Thel again fell to the ground and worshipped the creatures that stood before us.

"_Stand, Son of the Ark,"_ One said in an extremely mechanical sounding voice. He spoke in Sanghelli and so only I and the Arbiter understood. Thel stood up but his eyes were still cast to the ground. Were these…no…that was impossible…How did we get into a SHIELD WORLD?! Were there still Forerunners left?! That was…it had to be!

The one who had spoken turned to us and then made a noise like a scoff, "Children of the thorn in my side, why have you come?"

"We have come to rescue the Spartan known as John-S117." Holmes said and the creature sighed and motioned the others to lower their guns which they did with caution. Slowly, the creature began to take of its helmet and what lay underneath was nothing I expected.

He had long black hair that was in dreadlocks and he would have been handsome except for the fact that all his features were larger than I had ever seen on a normal human being. He dropped his helmet and looked straight at me.

"You understand the language of our children, do you now, Emmaline Rose Jackson?" He asked a slight smirk in his voice.

"I…I…" I began but my voice failed me. I was so nervous in the presence of something so…ancient? Was that right? He was indeed part of something so old I could barely begin to fathom…We knew so little about the Forerunners. "How is it possible we got here? They can only be found in times when the rings are fired!"

He chuckled darkly and then touched my shoulder, "He has come to lay in his coffin at last."


	10. A Puzzle That Cannot be Solved

I turned away from him to look into his extremely humanoid features which was extremely nerve racking. "What do you mean he's lying in his coffin?"

The Forerunner flicked his eyes to the Arbiter and then smirked, "He was supposed to come here with the Spartan. By some flaw of fate, he was returned to where he could have left but there was an unexpected bump in the road caused by a rather nosy little woman of science…"

I felt an indignant blush rise to my face and I narrowed my eyes, "You irk me."

He smirked again and I now could appreciate the features that distinguished his kind from humans. They were indeed taller and skinnier with smaller body parts but bigger eyes in strange colors and perfect heart shaped lips. Their eyebrows were almost nonexistent and their skin was almost a green hue. On each hand an extra finger resided.

The Forerunners' ears were pointed and pierced in varying earrings and their hair varied in colors, like humans. It was decorated with all manners of things, ranging from beads to something that looked like clay sculptures. However, it was their skin that really caught my attention. Aside from varying hints of green, their skin, especially their faces, held a multitude of designs, etched into the surface in changing shades of colors.

The one we were talking to, for instance had a dark blue design that trailed up the right side of his face that wrapped around over his forehead and then around his left eye before disappearing into his iris which held the same tattoo design as his skin.

"You flatter me, Emmaline Jackson," He turned to the rest of our party. "I am Kyat'ra, the son of the leader of our council. We have been hunting for the Sanghelli brood since we realized that the shield had let an unknown craft onto the world. Tell me…are the Flood gone?"

"The Flood have been gone for at least five years, Sir," Holmes assured Kyat'ra who arched an eyebrow-a hard task for someone who didn't really have one-and glanced at our now captain. "The rings were successful of that."

"Indeed. Getting back to the subject of the matter at hand…We have heard legends of a metal man who arrived on our planet years ago. However, this metal man has been sleeping for over three hundred of your years. Time, you see, works strangely here."

My stomach lurched. Were we too late? Had we failed to retrieve the Chief?!

"Do not fear, Emmaline," He smiled at me in a way that made me want to gag and then looked at Thel, "By the way, I have the gift of a Seer, and I must tell you two congratulations. She has her father's eyes and her mother's…stubborn nature."

I looked back at Thel who looked back at me, just as puzzled as I was until I realized what he was talking about. I whipped my head back towards Kyat'ra and snapped indignantly, "How dare you?!"

He shrugged and then looked at the rest of the team that was accompanying us. "I also saw the death of your captain and told my people about your crash landing. It was hard to ignore such an explosion. We have been…observing your type since you arrived and we wish to offer a hand of generosity. We never expected to see humans again, let alone on these shores and we know of your violent nature." His eyes turned to Thel again and gave him a cocky grin, "You Sanghelli are no different, believe me. We are not gods, nor should we be treated as such and wars should not be fought over us."

Thel turned his eyes to the ground and I reached behind me and squeezed his hand gently which also got me a squeeze back. This didn't go unnoticed.

"So, we're here because The Arbiter was supposed to end up here?" Holmes asked and Kyat'ra nodded solemnly.

"It's far more complicated than that but that's the general idea." He motioned for the rest of the silent Forerunners to step forward. They did so and nodded to our party before looking back to their leader. "We also are willing to fix your ship and provide you the way back to your world through the portal to your world.

Hoffman's eyes widened and she spoke. "But…wasn't the Ark destroyed?"

"The Ark may have been, Alexandria Hoffman but the portal is still in operation." He explained and she cocked her head and narrowed her eyes.

"How do you know all our names?" She asked slowly and he smiled at her like a small, misguided child.

"We have kept tabs on your kind since the dawn of your time, Alexandria, ever since the Librarian was trapped on your little planet we have been keeping you in check." He placed his helmet back on, transforming him into once again, a silver statue and nodded to Holmes.

"Xavier Holmes, you will return to your men and women and tell them of our coming. In one hour of your time, we will retrieve your crew and transport to them to our city. We will provide nourishment, medical care, and facilities for all your needs. From there you may search for your Spartan."

"Be fair warned," A new voice, a feminine voice spoke, "The planet is far bigger than anything you have ever been on, nearly superior to your sun. Unless you have some idea where you are going, you will never discover this Spartan's final oasis of dreams."

"We have an idea where he is located, with all due respect ma'am." Holmes held out a small chip with the coordinates of where we thought the Chief was.

The female figure was still for a moment before nodding, "Then we shall see you in a very short time, Holmes."

"How can we know we can trust you?" Holmes demanded and Kyat'ra turned his eyes to our dear esteemed captain.

"If you couldn't trust us, you would be dead by now. Give us one hour and we will provide all the transportation your team will need, I promise."

He nodded slowly before turning back to me, "Jackson, you are now relieved of your duties of collecting the flora and fauna of the region. You might have a more interesting topic to learn about."

I felt a giant weight lift off my shoulders. I was no botanist nor was a collector; I was a natural born people…erm…alien person.

I headed my team back to the Warthog where a soldier volunteered quietly to drive to allow Thel and to talk which was exactly what I needed right now. I knew all about the Sanghelli culture but I wanted to talk to him about the trust level of their so called "Ancients."

"Thel," I called to him as we loaded into the car and he looked back at me with his eyes still sparkling. He jumped into one of the seats and I jumped in next to him before continuing talking to him, "Can they be trusted?"

His reaction was instant but smaller than I expected. He made a noise that resembled a sigh and then looked at me.

"They are the Forerunners; a chance like this is something that I never dreamed possible. Of course they are trustworthy." He said promptly and I nodded slowly. I found myself slipping into thought about the shield world. How HAD we ended up here? I had heard about a ship called "The Spirit of Fire" that had accessed a shield world when their AI had found a rather interesting chink in the surface of a planet. Could Jasper have…No, it's impossible! I was right there when he found the tractor beam but if it was, I would finally have an answer to a mystery.

"I can see your brain working from here." Thel's voice interrupted my thoughts and I shook my head and looked at him, "Are you thinking about our encounter with the Forerunners?"

"No, actually, I'm not, I'm thinking about how we got into the Shield World in the first place," Thel explained and I arched and eyebrow in admiration before speaking.

"Actually, so was I. it just doesn't seem to add up! I mean, I heard about this ship, The Spirit of Fire, about a quarter century ago or so and how their AI accidentally tripped the opening of the Shield World but they would have consulted me or someone in the engineering department before they did anything. Of course, that doesn't mean that Cobb didn't do something stupid, she did have the tendency to jump into things haphazardly but…"I pondered the thought for a few more moments before glancing back up at Thel, "There's something bigger going on here, I think, bigger than the Forerunners, bigger than us and even bigger than the Chief. I don't know what it is but I don't like it."

The Arbiter craned his long neck, making him seem taller and me shorter and looked up at the sky. The clouds had burned away and we could see the periwinkle blue atmosphere above our heads and I wondered what was working for us and against us to find the Chief.

I guess the others who had come with us were also so stunned by the appearance of these things so like us and so unlike us, nobody really wanted to talk. Of course, Holmes was going to have to convince about three hundred men and women that these creatures weren't going to harm us, unlike the last time we had met some extraterrestrials. Of course, now I was going to MARRY one but that would probably not come until we found a way out of this whole mess and of course, this whole mess was caused by someone who might be dead.

Finally, after a long time, I leaned back over and asked Thel, "So…do you think that he was talking about what I thought he was talking about?"

Thel's eyes didn't move from the sky but I heard him speak, "If you think that he meant you would be with my child then yes, I do believe that he was telling the truth. You are destined to bare my pups no matter what. That does not instantly make him a Seer."

Surprisingly, I didn't get reassured by Thel's words but thought about them our whole ride back. Did he just look at me like a piece of meat? It didn't seem that way that day in the gym between us but…who knew what went on in a Sanghelli's mind?

_Oh yeah, I'm supposed to know, _I thought miserably as we were bumped and jostled by the rocking motions of the Warthogs. Finally, we reached the shore and sand crunched under my shoes as I was moved towards the ship.

"Jackson, stand down and gather your scientists. They'll probably find this stranger than most of my other squadrons." With that, he turned and marched away, his fists down by his sides leaving me and the Arbiter to our devices. He then turned to me and lowered his head to my level.

"I will be telling my Elites of what we have found. Find me after we've departed the ship." He told me and left me to find my scientists.

I took no time to think about some of the things that had been said between us or the Forerunners and raced back towards the ship where my teams were still studying in the labs that had been virtually undamaged in the crash. As soon as I stepped into the cool, dark interior, Penny was there, trotting along by my side.

"Em, we found this plant that responds to human voices! Females seem to stimulate growing while males…"

"I don't care about that!" I snapped a little more than I had meant to but we needed to gather my professors. "We found something that's better than a plant and I need to get everyone together to share something rather strange."

Penny looked at me with her green eyes in hurt. I really hadn't meant to be that harsh but…

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean the plant is stupid but we found something, something HUGE. Do you know why the Covenant was fighting against humanity?"

Her eyes widened and she slowly nodded, "Did we find Forerunner ruins that are significant to something?!"

I grinned and then motioned to the labs. "I'll tell you with the rest of the team."

Penny giggled like a love struck schoolgirl and hurried to gather the attention of the other scientists. I came sauntering in to a very quiet, very attentive audience, all watching me behind their safety goggles, glasses or other sorts of eye gear.

"What's going on, Dr. Jackson?" Oster asked me, her face bright red.

"Yes, Penny said something about Forerunner artifacts! Tell us!"

I savored the moment. Who couldn't? I was about to share with them that the universe wasn't void of Forerunner life after all. "This morning at 900 hours, we left to find water farther out in the jungle. However, on the way, we discovered rather large Forerunner ruins…or what we thought were ruins. Ladies and Gentlemen, we were fortunate enough to meet and receive help from a group of Forerunner hunters. They will be here in about forty-five minutes to collect us and return to their…whatever they're taking us to."

Stunned silence met my ears and suddenly, like a wall of sound, there were dozens of excited voices, asking questions, exclaiming their surprise or shouting in anger.

"What if they eat us?! We don't know anything about them!"

"Will we be taking our lab equipment, Dr. Jackson?"

"Oh! Forerunners! I've always wanted to study more about them but never had the resources!"

My voice rose above the fray, "GOOD DOCTORS!" This got their attention almost instantly came back on me. "We have spoken to the son of one of the leaders of their council and they are willing to fix our ship and let us stay and study them. It really is to the benefit to everyone. They'll keep us safe and they'll house us while we're looking for the Chief."

"How do you know they don't have a taste for human flesh?!" A chemist demanded and I arched an eyebrow in disbelief.

"I highly doubt they would eat us, Dr. Kane." The older man scowled and I turned back to my audience, "Anyway, we will be taking all our equipment with us to study the jungle, the Forerunners and how we got to this Shield World in the first place…"

The last part was something that I didn't mean to say. Instantly, they were buzzing again, trying to make sense of the impossible. Were we here on accident? I hadn't meant to say that but Penny quickly gave me a look and I promised her we would talk later about it. She nodded and then spoke in a loud voice, "We need to get all our equipment together if we're going to study and catalogue the planet."

Nods and murmurs of approval soon followed and the mob disbanded to go collect whatever they needed to journey off and I made my way towards the place where I had spent less time than I'd like. My desk was still pristine and ready to use as an AI jumped up, scaring me slightly.

"Dr. Jackson, I can't help but think that you might have some insight to how we got into the Shield World in the first place." Jasper asked and I glanced at him as I gathered up a notebook full of drawings I had done of Thel and some pencils.

"Well…I have my theories. Did you have anything to do with it?"

Jasper crossed his hands over his chest and arched an eyebrow as if he couldn't believe it.

"My dear girl, why in the world do you think I would want us here?" He asked and I glanced at him and snorted.

"You are an AI, and you DO take your orders straight from Cobb…or you used to at least. I was thinking maybe in your haste to find the Chief you might have accidentally pried something loose, meaning the cover to this planet."

"I never did anything of the sort, Dr. Jackson, I assure you of that. We were pulled here by an unknown source and I am not ever sure of what that was."

I stopped for a moment before dropping my stuff on my desk and began rubbing my temples in frustration. "There's something else in play here, but I wish I knew what it was! This is so confusing!"

"Maybe you're just overworking your brain, Doctor," Jasper offered and I stared him down, "Or…not…really, it's…it's your call."

I rolled my eyes and packed up the rest of my stuff before turned back to Jasper, "Are you coming with us?"

He gave me a little smile and nodded sheepishly, "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

I chuckled slightly before he closed his eyes and then smiled a little bit, "Pull me."

And so that was exactly what I did. I slipped the chip that he was installed on into my pocket and watched the others gathering their supplies. Penny came over to me and I explained my theory of the Shield World with her. When I was done, she asked many of the same questions I had asked myself.

"Hey," I said as she turned to grab the last bit of her papers, "Thanks for saving my hide there when I said that."

She looked back at me and put a hand on her hip in mock anger, "Now, what sort of friend would I be if I let you take all the blame?"

I smiled sheepishly and blushed, "Again, thank you. You saved my can. Again."

She grinned back and slung her backpack over her shoulder, "Let's go, everyone's heading out and that probably means that we'll be getting picked up soon."

We hurried out of the lab and followed the stream of people that had bags of their most precious items and hurried down onto the beach where, true to their word, the Forerunners had sent several huge carriers that were still running but were as silent as the grave. Kyat'ra stood with Holmes and smiled when he saw Penny and I approach.

"Doctor Jackson, it's a pleasure to see you again." He said and nodded. I narrowed my eyes and shifted my pack over to my other shoulder.

"Don't try and get friendly with me." I scowled and his eyes fell on Penny.

"And Dr. Patricia Waits, it's a pleasure to finally meet a woman who captures such a beast's heart."

She stopped after this and looked at him for a few moments before looking back to me, "Um…nice to meet you too?" We hurried past him and got in line with all the other Marines who were getting into the vehicles that would take us parts unknown.

The inside was spacious and I saw Marines already taking their seats, laughing and chatting with each other as their stuff was set by their feet. Several Forerunners were speaking to the men and women but they exhibited very solemn movement and they smiled at our attempts of humor. Probably in pity.

"What was that all about?" Penny asked me as we found two empty seats.

"He claims he's a 'seer' but I'm not seeing it. He's probably making it up just to impress you." I rolled my eyes and touched Jasper's chip in my pocket. "Besides, your capturing of the beast's heart? What is that all about?"

She laughed as Lopez and his friends joined in. I sat out on the conversation as they talked about all they would find in the new city.

"Hopefully lots of sexy alien ladies!" One of them whooped and the men around them all groaned. Of course, they would be perverted in a time like this but they seemed to be taking it rather well. Finally, after making sure that everyone made it onto the crafts, they began to rise into the air, taking us to an entirely new adventure altogether.


	11. Iratyai

I glanced over at Thel and his Elites and we made eye contact. I smiled and waved and he nodded back. It wasn't the ideal condition for us to be together but it was life, until we found the Chief. I would have liked to spend more time with him, truthfully. It had only been about a week since we had crashed but I missed our day to day activities.

Suddenly, he was there beside me and looking at me like I was sick or something.

"What?" I asked defensively and he arched an eyebrow ridge.

"You were looking at me like you wanted to tell me something. Did you?" He asked and I smiled slightly and shook my head. He leaned against the doorframe and watched the jungle sweep by our feet. "This is a dream that has been dormant in my brother's minds for all of our existence."

I nodded and also leaned against the door, admiring the view. The jungle was so…green. Greener than anything I had ever seen before. The ships moved so quickly, I felt like were traveling over a sea of green. "I understand," I told him, "Are we going to train like we did on the Nile?"

He looked at me and his mandibles turned up into what I considered a smile. "If you wish, Brave One. I have not seen you fight in quite some time and we must learn to combat whatever lives on this planet for I believe that there is more than just Forerunners that reside here."

I nodded again, agreeing with the statement. Of course, I had seen little creatures that swung off of branches and watched us pass in the jungles down below. Usually little things meant bigger things would probably eat up bigger things and so on and so forth. Of course, this didn't mean that they would take any interest in us. I shrugged off the idea and tried to speak to Thel again.

"What are we?" I asked suddenly and I felt him pull back at the question. I wanted to know. It had been on my mind since he said we were destined to have children together. Was that the only thing he saw our relationship to be?

"I see us as something that must be done but it is something I look forward to greatly." He reached for my hand and I offered it to him, "I will be the Arbiter until the day I die but that does not mean that my greatest adventure is one I can have as the Arbiter." He was looking at me all the while and I felt a blush rise to my cheeks.

"There's no way I could ever be your biggest adventure. I know you. I know what you've done with female Elites to produce, the strong, swift, brave Sanghelli warriors that the Covenant needed." I gave his hand one last squeeze and smiled gently at him, "and I understand."

I turned to go back but I then felt his hand grab my wrist. I turned around quickly and met his gaze with my own.

"If you didn't mean anything to me, I would never have chosen you. I too know you. Don't disappoint me, Emmaline. You are my chosen mate and for that, I will fight for you, no matter what challenge rears in our path."

He let go of my wrist and turned back to the jungle, leaving me to my thoughts. He HAD chosen me. I wasn't nothing more than just another human in his eyes. I really meant something to him…or at least, I hoped. I turned back to watch the jungle pass by our feet and smiled slightly to myself, touching the place where his hand had touched my wrist.

Suddenly, something in the distance caught my eye. They were trained to catch things out of the ordinary and this certainly appeared to be out of the ordinary. Tall spires that brushed the skies inlaid with beautiful intricate designs sailed past us and Kyat'ra turned to the men and women who were so relaxed in their seats and smiled at them, baring his rather strange teeth.

"Welcome humans, to our city. Our beautiful Iratyai."

The city came into view just as he was saying this, crafts not unlike ours peppered the skies, taking supplies and Forerunners to wherever they may need to go. Enormous buildings filled the skies and bridges that connected them so that the occupants never had to go on the ground.

"Why do you not have your buildings on the ground?" Rachel asked, grabbing a pencil that had gone unnoticed in her dreadlocks. She also had a pad of paper and waited for Kyat'ra to speak.

"We do, these that are so tall represent different tribes that have come and gone over our time span. They are only for leaving of gifts to our ancestors and for praying for their forms that have lost their ways."

She scribbled this down in her notebook and then continued to fire her questions off. "What happened to these tribes?"

Kyat'ra gave her a thin lipped smile and then looked over the spires, "They died when the activation of the Rings killed the Infestation. We were lucky to have survived for so long." He glanced over at Thel and I, "We have tried to find our brothers and sisters but luck seems to not be on our side."

I turned away from Kyat'ra's strange eyes and turned back to the city. Mostly everything was covered in foliage but here and there I could make out a rather well lit up building that pierced the canopy.

"How long does the average Forerunner live?" Rachel hammered as the ships began to lower and we were pulled in by a tractor beam and docked to a rather large building, one that defied the laws of gravity completely. This was an entirely free floating structure but it seemed solid as we were ushered off the ship and as we found ourselves in a rather large room that could easily fit 2,000 people, Kyat'ra answered Rachel's question rather strangely.

"We live as long as we need to live."

An obvious female Forerunner came up and bowed respectfully to Kyat'ra who did the same to her. "This is my mate, Tys'ya. She will show you around our city and show you to your quarters." He bowed to Holmes, the Arbiter, and our group at the front. "I will be seeing you again very shortly but until we are brought together once again, I bid you farewell. I must speak with the council." With a flick of his hand, his armor disintegrated into a rather formal looking set of robes and he turned on his heel and walked towards the other side of the room.

Tys'ya turned to our group and observed us with eyes that reminded me of a blue moon. Cold, hard but strong at the same time. She was rather beautiful as well. She had sleek black hair that tumbled over her shoulders in a waterfall of darkness and her own skin designs resembled those of climbing ivy.

"Welcome, sons and daughters of The Ark, we are honored to have you here," She smiled at Holmes and he nodded back, "Kyat'ra told us of your coming but he did not mention the Arbiter was amongst your party. He told me that it was just another Sanghelli." She nodded to Thel and then her eyes flicked to me, "And the scientist that is doomed to be his bride, such a tale of woe your tragedy is turning out to be, my dear."

"I do not hate the fact that we are to be joined," I said sternly and she gave me a tight lipped smile before turning her eyes to the rest of our party.

"Our healers have been notified you have injured members of your party." She waved her hand and several younger looking Forerunners. "They will show you to our medicinal building and I will show the rest of your crew to your quarters." She turned on her heel and we had no other choice but to follow her. We followed her through hallways and down lifts that gripped up to keep our party from falling out onto the ground.

We trekked through corridors and finally, we the ground and my breath caught in my throat. Pathways lined the ground Forerunners walked along at leisurely paces and children were being taught outside in large plaza at the feet of the thousand foot memorials to their ancestors. Somewhere down the street, I caught snatches of something that might be gospel music on our world but something different completely on theirs.

Suddenly, I heard the words and my blood froze. They were the Lord's Prayer in Swahili.

"How is it possible…" I began but Tys'ya seemed to have heard my thought.

"We have followed your species, those of human origins for millennium now and our music teachers find the language known as Swahili to be a point of great interest." We moved closer to the sound and felt the eyes of a civilization on our backs. I scooted closer to the Arbiter as we moved, ignoring the gasps and cries of excitement as something new was discovered by our team. Finally, after about ten minutes of walking, we were led to a building that seemed too small to fit four hundred people but then…

"Our housing is below ground while everything else is above ground. You will hopefully all find quarters to your liking." She nodded towards the rather large door that led into the bowels of the barracks and slowly, like coming out of a dream, we began to move towards the door. The inside was nothing more than an elevator and so finally, the first team of Marines stepped onto the plate and was transported out of our eye range. Tys'ya turned to Thel and me and smiled slightly.

"Tell your team that we will eat with them when they are settled in and that they should come to the largest plaza that you can find. There will be a banquet there and your people can meet the Council of the Forerunners."

I smiled back at her and stuck out my hand awkwardly, "Thanks for your hospitality. I don't know where we'd be without it."

She didn't accept the handshake but her eyes flicked over the Arbiter, "You would have managed. I will see you both at the feast tonight. Until then, I bid you farewell."

And, like her husband, she was gone.


	12. To Be Loved in Return

The rooms turned out to be rather spacious and held at least two or three Marines and nobody wanted to be left out. Of course…much to my dismay (and delight, I wasn't quite sure) A single, solitary room had been left for Thel and I. Of course.

"A room for the happy couple!" Lopez laughed as he bunked with the guy Penny liked while she shared a room with Rachel and Hoffman.

"Oh dear…" I murmured as I stepped over the threshold. The rooms locked from the inside in case the occupants needed their privacy but as soon as the door closed behind me, I knew that this was a mistake. He glanced up as I entered the room.

"Who planned this?" I asked slowly, stepping onto the warm floor.

He turned to me and for the first time, I could truly appreciate his immense height, his shining armor, his…everything. It was hard not to be impressed.

"I was asked to share this room with you by Holmes. The others seemed to have been full."

"Yeah right," I scowled but secretly, I was happy. Of course, I would never tell him his but in my mind, I was shouting for joy. Holy shit, what was wrong with me?!

"I can see the blush on your cheeks," He reached up and brushed a strand of hair out of my face and I felt myself longing for more than just that. I wanted something like we experienced that day right before I was called away, "I know you, Emmaline."

I turned away from him, trying to conceal the embarrassment that flooded my cheeks with a crimson hue. "I should go see Penny, talk to her about some stuff…"

He had me up against the wall before I could say another word, his eyes boring into mine with such fierce intensity, I had to look away.

"Why do you resist what will happen? Let yourself fall into it, you cannot change the inevitable."

I felt my eyes fill up with what my cheeks couldn't hold and felt tears fall down my face, "I-I…I can't betray him." I managed to wrench myself out of his grip, grab an unpacked tee shirt and hurry out of the room without another word to my Sanghelli counterpart.

* * *

"Welcome, to our new friends and colleagues from Earth and Sanghelios, we are honored to have you here," The eldest Forerunner, the leader of their council, a female named Pstana raised her cup in in a salute as did rest of the council, including Tys'ya and Kyat'ra who smiled and nodded towards the place where we were sitting. Penny, Holmes, Hoffman, Rachel, Lopez and Perkins, the guy that Penny liked, and I were all sitting at a table. I wouldn't even look at Thel. It wasn't that I was mad at him…It was the fact that he was right and I wasn't able to admit that.

"We look forward to helping you find your Spartan and also look forward to learning about your cultures that we haven't spoken to in so very long!" She continued and waved her hand to the banquet that had been set up alongside the plaza, "Now eat! We have more than enough food for your mouths! Come!"

Most of the Marines weren't hesitant in getting food from Forerunners but some of the scientists and even the Sanghellis were reluctant. Finally, one of them bowed his head and said, "We cannot eat something so dutifully given to us by our gods. Forerunners be praised!"

I laughed slightly but disguised it as a cough. Of course the Elites would be reluctant. I had also seen them trying to convince Tys'ya that it was better for them to sleep outside for they were not worthy of the blessings that were being rained on them, Forerunners be praised.

Thel seemed to be over the whole initial shock of seeing the Forerunners however; he was still hesitant to eat their food. Finally, I stood up and made my way over to where a bounty of crops lay before my eyes. There were some foods that were familiar from home that included meats in marinara, fruits and vegetables, and other delicacies. Other foods that most of the Marines were steering clear of was probably for the Elites. How did they know so much about us? However, that would be mysteries to solve on another occasion because between my bubbling head and roaring stomach, I needed something to eat before I passed out from so much thinking.

As I sat back down next to Penny and Rachel, I noticed the Elites finally moving towards the table and the Forerunners that sat at other tables were intermingling with the men and women, eating and speaking. Everyone once awhile, I heard a loud clattering from a table in disbelief but I hoped that they were getting good information I could use later on in my studies. Rachel got up and began to speak to a younger looking Forerunner and she was asking him questions about their day-to-day life.

I smiled to myself and dared a glance at Thel. He was watching a female Forerunner speak to an almost groveling Elite and I laughed softly to myself. I twisted a piece of hair around my finger until I heard a voice behind me.

"Dr. Jackson, I presume." A tall male Forerunner dressed in fine green and silver robes with darker skin, blue eyes and a rather intricate tattoo pattern all over his face was addressing me, "May I sit down for a moment?"

I was shocked, "Of…course!" My table mates had quickly dispersed to speak to whomever but my eyes trailed over to Holmes and Hoffman who were standing on the far side of the plaza in a heated discussion. I wondered what they could be fighting about. "May I ask your name?" I questioned to the creature who had just sat down. He chuckled slightly and brushed his white blonde hair over his shoulder.

"My name is Victorium, I am a teacher of social and cultural studies for our young ones." He began but I stopped him.

"Do you mind me asking you a question before we continue?"

"Of course."

"How do you know so much about humans? You seem to know our food, our languages, everything!"

He smiled at me good naturedly and I decided that he was the only Forerunner I had met I really enjoyed talking to.

"We do not know all about your culture, Dr. Jackson. We know bits and pieces that we can observe from our Seers but we do not know everything."

"But the Swahili your choirs were singing earlier…"

"A simple version of your Lord's prayer placed on the tongue of Kyat'ra two hundred of your years ago. It has developed into song, yes, but it's just a piece. I want to know more. Like…your courting rituals."

I laughed slightly and smiled at him, trying to hide the annoyance that threatened to creep into my voice, "You're asking the wrong person. I'm betrothed to a creature that's not even my own species." My eyes turned to the Arbiter, "He's the one."

His eyes widened (if that was possible) and his face broke out into a grin, "Oh! Even more fascinating! A hybrid child from a human female and a Sanghelli male. When will this youth be conceived?"

I snorted and drank some more of the juice in my goblet. It was sweet, like mangos but had an extra kick like someone had spiked it with rum, "Not until we've found the Chief and we're joined together, whenever that will be. So…I doubt you'll be seeing a child."

His face fell slightly but then brightened up, "What if we joined you? We could do it right here in the square."

I felt myself blushing and I shook my head quickly, "You don't understand. It was a forced marriage. I want to wait as long as I possibly can before I have to share a bed with…him."

"Oh, don't deny your feelings for him, Dr. Jackson. I can feel your heart elevate from here when I see you look at him."

My eyes widened and I felt myself forcing down a blush, "He's…dear to me but I don't think I love him."

Something flashed in my companion's eyes and he smiled mischievously at me, "Oh Doctor, give it time…give it time…"

* * *

_ Night fell on the jungle faster than anyone had expected and with a wave of her hand, Pstana had cleaned up the fallen dishes and turned to the Marines._

_ "Be off to sleep with you now, humans and Sanghellis alike," She called and so the Marines and Sanghellis took her warning and followed the pathway that was now lined with lights that flickered and glowed in the night sky, leaving Hoffman and Holmes in the back of the ground._

_ "Why must we fight like children, Alex?" He asked her as she shot him a look to tell him to drop it. However, Xavier wasn't a man for dropping things easily, "I know we said some things in the past that…"_

_ "WE said some things?! YOU said some things, Xavier." She snapped and turned her caramel colored ponytail towards the man's face, "I wanted to stay with you. But then YOU had to stand me up at the altar and run off with pretty little Lily."_

_ Of course it had. Alex and he had dated for almost three years before Xavier proposed to her. Of course, they were just privates then…or at least she was. He was a Sargent and a damn good one at that. They were both stuck on Halo and barely escaped by the skin of their teeth. The proposal was spontaneous. Neither of them thought they would ever make it off. However, when they got off, the proposal still stuck and Alex had taken him up on his offer while Xavier started to get cold feet…and cold balls._

_ Lily Reynolds, a civilian, had been his downfall. She was pretty, a girl barely legal to keep his bed warm but indeed, she kept it warm. He took her as a lover and in the heat of the night; he would spill out his secrets to her. However, it was one of those nights that she told him her own secret._

_ She was pregnant._

_ Xavier of course decided to go through with the wedding but…seeing Alexandria up there in that dress…had scared him. He ran away with Lily only to leave her brokenhearted with a baby on her hip as requested transport to the nearest space station. However, he never expected a rather angry woman by the name of Alexandria Hoffman to be aboard the same one._

_ However hard he tried, he couldn't stop loving her. She was his every thought and even though he knew she hated him…what could he say? I love you, I want a new beginning on this new planet, and I regret what I did to you, to start with. That's what had sparked a rather heated discussion between them on the plaza. Now, they were still speaking to each other as they strolled back to the barracks._

_ "I'm sorry, I messed up," He tried to say, "I should have never let you go. You were the best thing that ever happened to me, Alex, I swear."_

_ Her head snapped back as did her hand and her fist caught him in the stomach. "Like I haven't heard that songbird before," She sneered and continued to walk._

_ Holmes coughed a few times before catching up to the retreating woman. "Well…What about Mark?"_

_ She froze dead in her tracks and whipped her head towards Holmes, "How do you know about Mark?!" She demanded and she was almost sure she caught the flicker of a smile cross his face._

_ "Well it wasn't much of a secret, dear." He mocked and she threatened to punch her once again. He took a step back and threw his hands up in the air in self-defense, "Hey! Would you relax already?! You're assaulting a senior officer!"_

_ She lowered her fists and then crossed her hands over her front, "You mean a senior dipshit?" She smirked and then glanced towards the barracks. They were the last two outside._

_ Holmes sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair, "Alexandria…I know what I did was wrong but you're not completely faultless yourself."_

_ He was pleased to see her turn away to hide her shame in the darkness. She too had been seeing someone behind her lover's back. His name was Mark but unlike Lily, she had promised him that she would come back. However, she never did._

_ "I know what I did was not something to be admired but…" She turned back to see Holmes watching her every move. Suddenly, she began to cry and fell to her knees, "I miss you, Xavier. I can't deny myself that I miss you more and more every day."_

_ He tried to pull her up but she refused to budge, "But I can't come back. You'll do the same thing to me again. You'll run off with another woman and then…then…" Her words were lost in another round of sobs as he finally got her to her feet and dried off her eyes._

_ "I'm here for you, Alex. I know what I almost lost when I realized that I was still in love with you. I could never, ever, do what I did to you then again. You're far too precious to me."_

_ She sniffed and looked up at him, the light from the moon glinting off his dark curls and handsome looks. She couldn't fall apart. She couldn't let him see her like this. However, the more she thought about it the more she realized how much she hated being away from those arms, being safe again, warm and comfortable._

_ "I…I can't let you hurt me again," She admitted and turned her head away. However, he turned her head back towards him and smiled at her, brushing her tears off her cheeks._

_ "I will never hurt you again. I only want you and nobody else. Let our comings to this planet allow a new start to our life together. I love you more than anything and nothing will ever change."_

_ "You…really mean that?" _

_ "From the bottom of my heart."_

_ She smiled. It was the first time he had seen her smile in a very, very long time. He missed that, even if he saw her every day. Alex wasn't a girl who showed emotions but when she did, she let them out and so he couldn't think of a better place to forgive and move on into the future than an alien planet in the middle of an ocean of uncertainty in the pale light of a moon._

_ He kissed her and for the first time in almost three years, she kissed him back._


	13. Nightmares

_I stood on top of a hill, overlooking a ruined city, my dress fluttering around my knees. That was the first clue that I was in a dream. I hated dressed with a bloody passion and never wore them unless I was forced. Very few of my coworkers had ever seen me in a dress and that was okay with me. _

_ The dress was white and flimsy and seemed for fit for a ten year old than a 30 year old woman. However, the sight of the destroyed city sent me into a flurry of distress. What was this city? What had come upon it? It almost looked as if it had been glassed. _

_ A horror shot up through my spine. Reach had been glassed. Harvest had been glassed. I knew in my heart of hearts that this was earth and only one race was responsible for it. _

_ The Covenant. _

_ A sudden urge to vomit filled my every thought but since this was dream, I could suppress the feeling building up inside me. I looked at the rest of the plains and my eyes widened as I realized that this was the city where I had been raised. Grassy rolls of land moved with the ever changing wind and the clouds drifted lazily by. However, on a separate hill from my own, I saw a silhouette of a lone Sanghelli warrior. For some reason, I had a feeling that this was my warrior. _

_ He held an energy sword down by his side and he watched the still smoking ruins of my world. Was he happy for what he had caused? No, he wasn't. I could see him now, his eyes filled with regret and misery. He had known he had been the demise of this city. _

_ "Thel," I called out and began to hurry down my hill to his but something stopped me. It was another lone figure also approaching the Elite and he too was carrying an energy sword. The second I saw this creature, I knew Thel was in danger. I called his name again but the wind carried my words away. _

_ "THEL, BEHIND YOU!" I screamed but knew it was too late. My Sanghelli fell to the ground, his purple blood spilling from the identical blade marks in his chest. I ran to him as his attacker pulled his blade from the Arbiter's body. _

_ "You should have been more careful with your love, Em." Came a voice that I thought had been gone for years. But there he was, swept back blond hair, sparkling green eyes and stubble. He hadn't changed a bit. _

_ "T-Tyler," I stammered, taking a step back, "What are you doing here?!" _

_ He chuckled and resheathed the blade. "I was just in the neighborhood and heard that you fell in love with something that threatened to destroy our whole race." His eyes flicked to Thel and then back to me, "I see that the rumors were true." _

_ "He HELPED us defeat the Covenant!" I snapped and went to help Thel. However, the second my neck was even close to his mouth, I felt the hum of an energy sword on my neck. _

_ "I wouldn't do that if I were you," Tyler sneered and I stood back up, "We always said we would wait forever, don't you remember that, Em?" _

_ I glared at him and then turned back the Arbiter, "We were practically children, Tyler and you've been dead. It wasn't my choice to fall in love with him, let alone get engaged to him. I was forced but…" I snapped my head back towards him. "I am so glad I fell in love with him! He is everything I could ever ask for and more!" _

_ Tyler's mouth turned up into a leer of pure malice and the prairie suddenly turned dark, a fog rolled in and Tyler began to change. _

_ "We were hoping you would say that," He seethed, liquid darkness pouring from him mouth, "It is so much easier to manipulate the weak minded." _

_ His whole form changed and I screamed as he transformed into a Flood creature and lunged towards me, his energy sword raised. _

_ "Do you love me still, Emmaline? Do you still love a dead man?! I WAS GIVEN A SECOND CHANCE OF LIFE and still you run!" _

_ I jumped to my feet and began to run, my feet getting cut up as I ran. Now, there were more. Flood was running out of the shadows, chasing me, forcing me to run even faster. _

_ "Come back and lay with your love in his grave, my dear!" Tyler's voice filled my head and I tried to shake it out. Everywhere I saw pictures out of my memory played out like a movie. Our first kiss, our times sneaking out of my house, when I lost my virginity. _

_ "NO! I REFUSE TO LOVE YOU! YOU ARE NOTHING TO ME NOW!" I screamed and clutched my head as I fell to the ground, "NOTHING! YOU WILL NEVER BE ANYTHING! THEL IS ALL I NEED!" _

_ "Oh, but don't you see, Emmaline? He's already here with you." _

_ A hand clamped onto my shoulder and looked up to see the mutilated body of my Sanghelli warrior, ready to kill his first victim, the girl who loved him._

_ "Oh gods…Thel…I love you…" I sobbed as the energy sword entered my body. _

* * *

He heard a scream and then thrashing from the bunk next to him. Of course, they hadn't wanted to share a bed. That was far too promiscuous and after a murmured goodnight, she had fallen asleep and Thel was left to wonder if his advances were too much for Emmaline.

However, it was the moment that his name left her lips in her frenzied state did he realize that she was having a nightmare, possibly with him in it.

He threw back the covers of his bunk and moved towards Em in the darkness. The second that he was in range of her fingers, they clamped down onto his wrist and he was almost pulled forward, towards the scientist.

"Please tell me you're not a Flood creature," came her whispered demand and he found his mandibles splaying in a small smile he hoped would be invisible in the darkness.

"I can assure you that I am not," He said and he felt the hand loosen but not remove itself.

"Thel, it was horrible," She admitted, "Tyler killed you and became a flood creature and then you killed me…" Her voice trailed off and he felt a shiver run through her body, "Stay with me. I can't face the nightmares alone."

He felt the hand release from his wrist completely and he stood as silent as a statue for a moment. Was she inviting him into her bed?! Of course, this was better than nothing but he realized that it would be the only way that she would fall back to sleep. And perhaps this would be the only way he would fall asleep himself.

"Move out of the way, I'll take the wall," He climbed over Em and he felt the rush of cool air as she removed the covers to allow him into her bed.

"Thank you, Thel."

"Were it so easy to forget the nightmares."

He pulled the covers up around them and Em instantly found herself curled up against his side and the Arbiter found himself wrapping a protective arm around Em's small, fragile body. She placed an arm on top of his and he tangled his mandibles in her hair, inhaling her scent.

"Never let me go," She begged and she already began to feel her eyes drift close.

"Never, I promise."

* * *

My eyes opened into darkness and I slowly tried to move before remember that Thel had me in a death grip. His arm was around my waist, pinning me to the bed and I sighed as I tried to remove myself from his clutches. The only thing I managed to do was to entangle myself more in his arms and flip myself over so I was facing him in the darkness. Struggling, I finally managed to free an arm from his vice-like grip and press it blindly into the darkness. My fingers connected with the soft, smooth flesh of a mandible, slightly parted in slumber.

I knew Sanghelli anatomy. They had a set of teeth, a set on their mandibles that helped them hold onto their prey. Their diets were ranged but I knew that they liked meat. A lot.

My fingers traced up and down his mandible, admiring the silky smooth skin, void of all hair and suddenly, a voice entered the room.

"And a good morning to you as well, Doctor."

I squeaked and pulled my hand back but not before it was captured and lifted towards his mandibles. They caught my wrist and I felt him inhale, hoping the darkness could hide my blush. However, if he could catch my retreating arm, he could probably see my face.

"You smell delicious." He murmured sleepily, "Nightmares gone?"

I laughed slightly as his arm let go of my waist, "I can confidently say that there were no more but the one I had is going to haunt me for the rest of my life. How the heck do we turn on the lights in this room?"

Suddenly, the lights came on and I winced against the sudden onslaught of brightness. Thel looked bizarre without his normal armor on but I ignored it and peeled myself onto the heated floor, a rather nice touch that came with the room. Of course, that's just about the time that I realized that I was only wearing a sports bra and sweatpants that dipped precariously close to the top of my crotch.

I glanced over at Thel but realized that he had politely turned his head away from my scantily clad body.

"Uh…I'm gonna go find out how the showers work here," I stammered out before turning back towards the door that went towards what I thought was the bathroom.

However, it was like no bathroom I had ever seen. The showerhead looked like it was on the floor and there was an indent where the water probably went. A pad on the wall was probably how one turned on the shower but I didn't want to mess around with electricity and water and so slowly, I made my way over to the panel and it instantly responded to my touch by showing the water temperatures.

I spent most of the shower hopping from foot to foot, trying to avoid being assaulted by the rapid firing of hot and cold water.

Spewing out the occasional vulgarity, I then realized that I only possessed a sports bra and the sweat pants that had been soaked during the shower. As embarrassing as my situation might become, it could become a whole lot worse if I walked buck naked into my room to retrieve my clothes.

"Ah, shove it up your arse and do it sideways," I swore under my breath as I stepped to the wall to keep Thel from seeing my body. I then let the door slide open sideways and then shouted as soon as it was even open, "Don't come in! I need my clothes. I forgot to bring them in with me, would you mind sliding the duffel…?"

The bag was through the door before I could finish the sentence. I knew how awkward this made Thel but I was more focused in getting my stuff.

"Uh…thanks."

"Please, don't mention it again." I heard his deep, melodic voice say and I smiled slightly before tugging on my sports bra. I slathered on deodorant, tugged on a pair of panties, khakis and an olive green tank top. I then pulled on my boots and tugged my hair up into a wet ponytail and walked out of the bathroom.

"Restroom's open," I said casually and glanced over to see Thel on his own bed, his eyes closed. He seemed so at peace, but I knew Elites well enough to know this was a façade. I also knew men well enough to know that this was his way of trying to get out of an awkward situation.

"I saw."

There was a silence in between us again and I finally cleared my throat and one of his eyes opened slowly. "Thank you for last night."

He laughed slightly and swung his legs over the bed to stand up. He was now wearing his armor, and it glistened like the shell of a beetle in the soft light of the room. He moved over towards me and I looked up and his eyes locked on mine instantly.

"Do you still love this Tyler?"

My heart stopped in my chest, but I knew that the truth would come sooner or later. I had to turn my head away, I couldn't just…It came out of my mouth before I had time to stuff it back in.

"I've tried, so hard, to forget him, but every time I close my eyes…he's there." I felt tears prick my eyes but I shook them away. I needed to tell him the truth, "But you're there too and every time I try and fall in love with you, Tyler fights me away."

Thel was silent for a moment but then spoke, and this time, his voice was strained, like he was trying to keep something hidden.

"I believe you," His eyes still watched me; I could tell through the tears but something else held me to him, some force I couldn't understand, "You are a strange human. I do not know many who fight against a love that they still possess to obtain a love that is alien to them."

I took a shaky breath and then spoke, tears falling onto the sweatpants in my arms. "From loving a dead man to loving something that isn't even my own species. I am a fucking piece of work, I am."

He brought his palm up and cupped my chin, so I could look at him. Slowly, he brought his other hand up and brushed away the tears that spilled from my eyes, "You do not need to cry, my dear one. You are too strong for that."

I gulped back a sob and managed to take a shaky breath, "I'm a fire, Thel, I'll only hurt you. You're probably better off finding some other person to help you."

Hi fingers brushed my aorta, sending shivers down my spine, "The fire keeps me warm, even if I get burned if I get too close. I cannot choose someone else when I've already found the creature that I have marked as my own."

He touched the cold metal of his mask against my forehead and made a sound like a purr, "You're the only one I could ever choose, Emmaline."

I closed my eyes and relished at our intimate moment. I had never experienced this with him and for a moment, I felt the storm of my mind calm, as if I had reached the eye. Slowly, I reached up on tiptoes, dipped my head in between his mandibles and kissed the cold hard metal that was his armor. It wasn't skin contact but it was enough. His hands drifted down to my hips and gently pulled me closer.

However, there was literally no time to expect Penny and Lopez to come tumbling into the room. Lopez was the first one on his feet and he made a face as Thel and I quickly separated.

"Aw man, you aliens never give us regular guys a chance at the ladies!" He laughed and Penny rolled over on her stomach to look at Thel and me.

"You guys are cute together. I didn't think that was possible but now I get a look at you…" She rolled over on her back and looked from upside down, "Yeah, you guys are even cute from this angle." She then stood up, grinning like a loon before standing up and dusting herself off, "Anyway, the only reason we came in here…" Here she pointed at herself and Lopez to clear up the whole, 'why we were in here' thing, "was to tell Thel that your Elites are looking for you and the council wants to speak to you and Holmes."

"Um, okay," I said, trying to shake off the adrenaline pumping through me, "Is there anyone who's going with me?"

"Come on, Jack-Off, let's go," Came a voice from the hall that wasn't too happy to hear. I arched an eyebrow and looked back at Penny who shrugged, her auburn curls falling loosely around her shoulders. The had been pushed back off her forehead with a black strip of cloth that acted as a headband and her cheeks were flushed with delight of finding the Arbiter and I together.

Of course, my day had to get so much worse when I stepped out of the room and saw Hoffman standing in the corridor, scrutinizing my every move, "I don't have all day to wait for you, you know."

"You didn't have to wait for me at all, I could have found my own way without your help." I snapped and she scoffed.

"Oh yeah, sure. I don't think you could find your way out of a paper bag if you didn't have directions." She chuckled at her own joke and I rolled my eyes as we began to make our way down the hall, meeting up with Hoffman who was decked out in a white wife beater, a pair of khakis and combat boots, like the rest of us.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," He smiled and nodded to me and I gave him a little half smile back and he fell into step beside Hoffman. Was it my imagination or was there something going on between them? Their fingers made contact for a split second and then they looked away.

We finally made our way up into the bright sunlight where Forerunners watched us cross the street towards the larger buildings that we had seen during the flight.

"The council building is straight ahead, I asked some locals this morning," Holmes explained as melodies piggybacked on the wind, catching my ear every so often. The hustle and bustle of the early morning around us made me want to sit back and observe, jot down notes, and drink a hot cup of tea while doing so. However, we were expected elsewhere.

Finally, our party of three strolled across a rather large expanse of grass before coming up to a door similar to those on Forerunner installations I had seen on the first Halo that was discovered. The door slid open and we stepped onto an elevator that was large enough for at least 10 people to stand on. A holographic panel stood ready for us to go anywhere. Holmes slid his finger across its surface and we went flying up.

"So, did they say what they wanted?" I asked slowly and Holmes glanced at me once again.

"They said it had something to do with the Master Chief. I think we're going out to look today. Jasper's been pulling up data all morning, or so I heard from a Forerunner. I guess her and her mother of our wellbeing here. She was far nicer than any of the others I had met before, but then again she was also a child…actually looked at me like an equal rather than an experiment or something…I think her name was K'vada."

"I see," I stated as the elevator slowed to a stop and another door opened into a rather bland corridor. I looked out over the treetops that covered the landscape and wondered just how far we were above the ground. Slowly, the corridor opened into a more spacious environment and more elaborate carving of symbols was etched into the stone. A door, larger than any I had seen previously, opened up and a young male Forerunner came hurrying out. He wore deep blue robes and nodded when he saw us.

"Welcome, Sargent Major Holmes, Major Hoffman and Dr. Jackson, we are honored to have you sitting at the council of the Forerunners," He said and led us into the room before dropping to one knee in front of Pstana. "Great Council Leader, I bring you the humans you wised to speak with."

"Very good, you may be seated, Council Member Fyt'rtan, and as for the humans…" She turned to us and laced her fingers together, "Your AI wants to speak with you."

"Ah, yes, hello," Came the rather bemused voice of Jasper. His body appeared on the platform next to the leader's right hand, "As you could probably guess, when Sargent Major Holmes plugged me in, I received a rather large well of knowledge. However, encrypted in this is the rather interesting data about the planet about the species that are on it, the rivers, basically a map and Chief is somewhere we would have MISSED if it wasn't for this map!

"So you're saying that we found him?!" Holmes demanded and Jasper chuckled slightly.

"Not exactly, Sir. We have the general area of where he would be located but other than that…We know nothing except that it's about 100 kilometers from a river about 13,000 kilometers from our position right now."

"We can get there in about fifteen of your minutes, Sargent Major," Pstana explained, "And we can be ready to go as soon as you get a team assembled. I'm sure you want most of your Marines on the mission? I am aware of some of the dangers that plague the jungle."

He nodded swiftly and then glanced over at me. "We need all the man power we can get to scour the area." He glanced to me and I shrugged, "The scientists will also be coming as will the Elites. Like I said, we need everyone."

"How do you need, Sargent Major?"

Holmes's hand clenched into a fist, "Give me an hour."


	14. Lost

True to his word, Holmes had assembled, fed and outfitted all the Marines, Sanghelli, and scientists in weapons provided by the Forerunners. After a quick demonstration by a few weapons specialists and guides who know the planet. They have their own scientists as well, to study the planet so they can live in harmony with the ecosystem. It was strange to see the Elites clad in armor, their plasma pistols and energy swords at their hips.

My weapon was cold and heavy in my hands but I didn't mind it…too much. It reminded me of my days as a marine, days I would rather not remember. We were loaded into much smaller ships than before, however they were apparently much faster, getting us to our destination in a mere 15 minutes. Penny and I again ended up in the same vehicle and talking again and we decided to play a game.

"Never have I ever…Gone skinny dipping when I was drunk!" I said and Penny laughed but didn't put down a finger. Now it was her turn.

"Never have I ever kissed an alien," She winked and laughed and I smiled and put down a finger. "Hey, Em, how old are you? I've been meaning to ask you that for a few days."

I rolled my eyes and chuckled, "I turned 30 in April. And what about you, good doctor Waits?"

"I'm 28."

"No way! I wouldn't have pegged you for being 25!"

She smiled and nodded, "When I go in for a drink, they still card me, even though I've been legal for 7 years. I look really young, trust me I get it a lot."

I laughed and then began again, "Never have I ever…"

Suddenly, we stopped and I glanced back at Penny who looked back at me. Had it really been 15 minutes?!

"Alright ladies, enough break time!" Holmes called out and so I stood up and dusted myself off before grabbing my weapon. It made me think of my friend who died at the hands of an Elite. What if it had been Thel who killed her?

I quickly shook that picture out of my mind and glanced back to where the Forerunners were breaking us up into teams. I had Lopez in mine but that was the only familiar face. He swung his arm around me and winked.

"Your alien friend might want to be careful of you, chicka! You could be giving a man the wrong message wearing a shirt like that!" He laughed, but this comment didn't go unnoticed by Thel who caught my eye. I gave him a nod and then glanced down at my shirt. I had changed into a rather sensible black tee shirt and green windbreaker, neither were that provocative.

"Alright, listen up," our guide pulled us over to the side and motioned us to get in closer, "We have been selected to go from the river out so through those trees…" Here he pointed towards where I could hear a loud rushing noise, "and search inward. Your Spartan is around here somewhere."

I nodded and a few marines gave a halfhearted "ooh-rah" before we began to walk towards the river. The trees looked like nothing on Earth. They were foreign with rubbery stalks and big bulbous leaves. The jungle was springy under our feet as we moved along, barely daring to breathe. Every once in a while, a noise from the jungle, an animal or bird, would startle a marine to the point of him almost squeezing the trigger of his weapon. However, the Forerunner we were with only had to glare at our marines and they would quickly regain their composure.

My eye scanned the trees, looking for a telltale sign of the Master Chief. I found myself at the end of the group, even farther behind Lopez. There was nothing different about this particular patch of jungle, except for the creature that caught my eye.

It was loping rather quickly about 150 yards to my right, going in the exact opposite as our team. From where I was standing, it almost appeared to be Forerunner in shape but it's jerky, mechanical movement might have suggested something different. It ran wildly through the woods but it never made a sound.

My curiosity heightened, I took one last look back at my group. They were still tromping through the trees, speaking in hushed tones. I knew if I decided to go searching for the creature, I would probably lose them, but I DID have a tracker at my hip and so did everyone else in the group. I could find them, I was almost sure of it. The gun at my side gave me a sense of security against anything I faced and so, silently, I turned towards where the creature had gone and began to run after it.

I could still see it slightly, running through the trees like nothing I had ever seen before. It reminded me of something I had seen before but I couldn't put my finger on it. Even though it kept running like something with a grenade stuck to its back, I had to slow down to help the stitch in my side. Doubling over, I watched the thing disappear and realized that I should probably get back to my group. I untucked the tracker from my belt and held it up so I could see it. The river was about a half mile from my current destination as was the team. I smirked and tucked the tracker into my pocket, hoisted my gun over my shoulder and turned to go back to my group.

I began to walk slowly, enjoying the warmth of the day. However, what I didn't realize until I heard the noise behind me was that there was something else enjoying the warm, sunny day. I stopped suddenly, the hairs on the back of my neck standing up straight. There was something watching me, something that wasn't as friendly as a Forerunner that actually enjoyed the creatures as a snack and wouldn't think twice about eating a human.

Slowly, I turned around and almost passed out in fear when I saw the creature that loomed about thirty feet away from my current position. It was huge with a body like a snake and a face that combined the eyes of a snake, the maw that looked something like an alligator and the hood of a frilled lizard. Its tongue flickered and its eyes quickly latched onto mine, paralyzing me. I couldn't even raise my gun. It was only when I heard its tail begin to shake back and forth was I pulled from my stupor and was able to raise my gun to shoot at it. It hissed in agitation as it was pelted with searing hot plasma but didn't seem to be hurt. That's when it decided that his little treat had pulled enough tricks and lunged in for the attack.

It was only my training with the Arbiter that saved me. I rolled out of the way, came up on one knee and sent a charge on super-heated plasma into his left eye. It gave a human like scream of pain, thrashing as green blood fell on me like rain. I didn't look back as I began to run; trying to escape the serpent-esque creature that decided that it was bent on killing me.

I hurried through the jungle, pushing leave out of my way, ignoring the stings of plants as they hit me in the face rather hard.

"Oh shit…oh fuck…oh sweet Buddha…" I gasped as I stumbled over rocks and roots. Our Forerunner guide was leading our team through the woods and a cry of alarm was raised when they saw me with my pursuer only yards behind me.

They began to fire their own weapons at the beast by it turns out it only had eyes for me. It didn't even turn to the group but continued its hunt of me.

"THE RIVER, , THE RIVER!" Our guide screamed as I made a beeline where I assumed the river was. My legs moved faster than they ever had in my entire life and I dropped the gun as I saw my saving grace, a break in the trees that signified the river. However, the root in front of me hindered my process and I tripped on it and went sprawling, skinning my chin and ripping my hands open. The creature came to a stop, savoring the moment of my demise but I wasn't going down without a fight. I tried to stand but the beast had another trick up his sleeve.

Without another thought, its tongue lashed out and wrapped around my right ankle, pinning me to the ground. I began sliding across the jungle floor until my hands caught the root that had tripped me. The gun a mere two feet from where I had tripped, I began to formulate a plan. The creature pulled harder but my hands were stayed. Well, that was until with one rather large tug, the sockets of my arms burning like something fierce my right joint slid from my socket with a rather sickening POP.

Having your arm pulled from your socket hurts. Having your arm pulled from your socket and hanging onto a root is excruciating. I screamed for dear life as finally, I decided I had no more options. I let go of the root and used the surprise of the creature to my advantage. I rolled to the left, grabbed the gun and shot its tongue. It loosened but didn't relinquish. It took several more well placed plasma shots to finally get myself free.

The pain from my arm was slowly down but the shots that I had delivered to the beast weren't doing it any favors. It had slowed considerably but it still screamed for my blood.

I staggered towards the river, hoping I could use it to my advantage. What I didn't expect was that the river was about thirty yards below me at the bottom of a canyon. However, I decided I would rather die at the bottom of a canyon than die at the hands of a snake and so I did something that I probably wouldn't have done under any other conditions.

I jumped.

I've heard it said in situations where the person is at Death's door, their life flashes before their eyes. Mine actually was rather boring. There was Tyler, of course, the letter that had delivered his death to me, meeting the Sanghelli that turned my life upside down, Thel and then…

The cold water pulled the breath from my lungs and I was stunned for a moment before my tailbone collided with a rock. I swore in my head until I realized that when one usually needs oxygen to keep living and so I struggled to the surface.

One of the only things I excelled at that my mother frowned down up on was swimming. However, even with two well-functioning arms, the river would have been hard to navigate. I crashed against rocks and tree branches and logs that littered the river. With one arm, it was impossible. There was no way I could swim to safety and before I was pulled under again, I had the vague wish that they would find my body, peaceful and serene instead of bloated and grotesque. I wanted Thel's last picture of my face to be comforting, not terrifying.

My head fell back beneath the surface and my head collided rather hard against a rock that might have killed me except for the fact that a rather nice current caught me and so my head only sort of hit the rock. I was thankful for it but almost wished it would have killed me. I would rather die by concussion than drowning. Three times is a charm for those sorts of things though. Maybe that would be the thing to finish me off.

However, my head once again broke the surface and through hazy eyes, I could tell that I was floating through a calm stretch of the river and a bank was on my left. A nice, sandy, perfect beach. That would be the perfect place to die, I decided and so, I slowly began to float towards the beach. When I could finally stand up, I stumbled my way onto the sand, before again falling to my knees. My fingers traced patterns in the sand as I gave a little smile, laying my head down. Everything must have been screaming in agony but I didn't feel a thing. I was at peace, numbed from the pain by the freezing water and my non-responsive brain.

Finally, I realized that I would be with Tyler again and a smile crept across my face. I missed him dearly. So, slowly, my eyes began to close, my body became quiet and my vision faded into nothingness, a smile still etched on my lips.

I awoke sometime at night when I heard-and smelled-strange beings that still towered over me. I heard their slimy movement and I felt the feathered touch of something touching my face but I couldn't tell what it was. I couldn't open my eyes. Finally, after a long while, they moved away and I realized something terrifying. These creatures were oddly familiar. I had felt their presence before and for a split second before slipping off into another deep coma-like state; I realized what great danger everyone on the planet was in.

The second time I awoke it was because I was being dragged like a ragdoll across the sand. I tried to sit up and tell the person off, but my body was stiff and probably bruised beyond recognition. Slowly, the sand turned into dirt and the dirt turned into rock, scraping my face up more. Now Thel wouldn't think I was beautiful. I knew if I was awake, I wouldn't allow this but as my body surrendered back into sleep, I realized that my adventure was going quickly from bad to even worse.


	15. Fight For Your Life

When I opened my eyes once again, I had an extremely bad headache and the world didn't look quite…right. My shoulder throbbed like something fierce and my whole body ached as if it had been dragged across different terrains. Oh yeah, it was. I groaned as my eyes attempted to adjust to the darkness that surrounded me. Where the hell was I?

"Oh gods…" I mumbled and tried to move my body but found I was stuck rather forcefully inside a cocoon of something sticky but silky at the same time. I began to try and unstick my left arm but my efforts were in vain, of course. I grunted and groaned until I finally felt the strands of whatever I was stuck in start to loosen and lose their stickiness. I stuck my tongue out in concentration and tasted dirt, blood and sweat on my face.

Finally, my arm came loose but as I began to try and pull the strands away from my body, my left arm became stuck again!

"Shit…" I groaned and craned my neck to see the ground. It was probably seven or eight feet below me and if I fell on my neck, I would probably be killed on impact. Not the sort of prospect I really needed at that particular moment but…

My eyes scanned the rest of the room, taking in the darkness. It was covered in sticky strands like what covered me but below me there were white bleached sticks and…and…Holy shit…

What were below me weren't sticks but bones. They appeared almost human but I knew better than that. I was in the lair of something that probably thought the occasional Forerunner made a rather good snack.

A jolt raced its way through my body. What if the thing chasing me had finally caught me?! Or worse yet…what if those things that reeked like Flood (I could almost be sure that they were) had decided that I wasn't dead? Landing on my neck and instantly dying didn't sound too bad anymore.

I gave a little cry and attempted to get my hand unstuck again but no cigar. I was stuck up here until whatever had captured me ate me and spit out my remains to lay with the Forerunners on the floor.

Slowly, my head decided that it was again time to sleep and so for a long while, my body drifted in and out of consciousness. Things passed in and out of my dreams that I had never seen before. Tyler dominated most of them though. He hit me and swore at me, telling me that I never deserved to love again, how he had cheated on other women behind my back, how ugly I was, how naïve, how stupid…

"You know Sanghellis, Em," He gloated as his fist caught my cheek, "They're always fucking different aliens. He'll never want you; he'll never be the father that I could have been! When he leaves you, and I know he will, he'll leave you with one bastard child and a broken heart…I just wish I could have been the bastard to do it first!" His fist drove into my abdomen and I cried out in misery.

"You don't know him!" I yelled at him, holding my ground. These were my dreams and there was no way he could take that from me too, "He loves me! I've seen it in his eyes!"

"That son of a bitch wouldn't know love if it came up and shot him in the head! Maybe you don't either, Em. I never really loved you so why should love matter to you? You don't deserve it!"

"Fuck off you stupid fucking ASSHOLE!" I screamed before reaching two hands up, placing them on his chest and shoving. My dream shattered like a mirror and my eyes snapped open for the fifth time in my confinement.

My situation was the same as it had the previous four times. There was barely any light down here and I was cold! Not to mention thirsty and sore, that trip down the river had done nothing to quench my thirst, my mouth felt like it had spent a year in the Sahara.

Suddenly, I heard something. My heart began to beat quickly and I whipped my head around to see whatever was coming. It was nothing good, I could promise myself that. However, when I heard the next noise, tears threatened to come to my eyes.

"EMMALINE?! EMMALINE, WHERE ARE YOU?" Thel's voice echoed throughout the cavern and it took all my strength to scream out his name.

"THEL! THEL! I'M IN HERE, HELP!" I half sobbed, half screamed as I began to hear the incoming footsteps of an Elite. Through my tears, I saw the glow of an energy sword and finally, his outline as he saw me in my terrible state. I knew that he wouldn't be able to reach me and so through my tears, I heard myself beginning to blubber, "Oh Thel, I didn't think you would come…"

"Quiet, all your blood is in your head," He said softly from the floor, and jumped up, his hand catching a ledge, pulling himself up so we were level, eye to eye, "Are you alright?"

"No," I began to cry again and I heard Thel sigh softly. Whether it was because of my piteous tears or my face, "Get me out of here, please, I just want to go back and see Penny…Thel?"

"Hmm?" He focused on trying to figure out how to get me down without hurting me and lowered my eyes so I could see straight up my body.

"I…I had these horrible dreams. I think it was because of all the blood going to my head…Do you…do you truly love me?"

His fingers were nimble and he knew what to do before answering, "Yes. I know you're confused but yes, I do have feelings for you. I had feelings for you the moment I saw you." Using his energy sword, he sawed through about three quarters of the fibers, leaving the rest of them to peel off by themselves, which they did almost instantly. He jumped down from the ledge and caught my cocoon in his arms. Instantly, blood flowed back into my numb limbs.

"Ah, thanks," I mumbled as he pulled out a rather simple knife and slipped it through the fibers, loosening me from my confines. He nodded and I tried to stand up but I made the mistake of trying to push up on my right arm. "AH!"

Instantly, Thel was down by my side, touching my shoulder gently, "What happened?"

"I was being chased by this…thing and it grabbed me with its tongue but I grabbed onto a root or something and I think I dislocated my shoulder joint…Ugh…don't touch it!" I hissed as his fingers hovered over the ridiculously swollen joint.

His eyes traveled up to mine and were filled with so much sadness and grief I touched his face with my good hand. "This is going to hurt me almost as much as it's going to hurt you."

"What do you mean…OH HOLY HELLLLLL!" I screamed as Thel gripped my shoulder and popped the joint back into the socket. I saw stars. I swore like a sailor. I seriously wanted to punch him in the face. "YOU SON OF A BITCH!" I roared and Thel's mandibles spread out into a smile. I groaned and then as the pain began to fade I realize that he had done me a rather large favor. Sure, it still hurt but it was better than running blindly through a cave with one gimp arm. Finally, once my breathing slowed I brought my eyes up to look at him and I smiled sheepishly. "Erm…thanks."

A chuckle was heard from deep within his throat as he helped me stand, using my left arm. My right one still throbbed painfully and each step was hard because of the pins and needles in my legs and feet.

"How did you find me?" I asked as we began to walk…well, Thel half carried me, out of the cave.

"They knew that you would have your tracker on you, no matter what and Holmes was right. He was absolutely livid when he found out you got separated from your group and attacked by a Hyalct…"

"A what?!"

"The creature you were attacked by, it's called a Hylact. Apparently they're extremely vicious…but you obviously figured that out rather quickly." I could hear the edge of humor on his voice and I rolled my eyes slowly.

"Yeah, yeah, understood. But Thel…There's something here…something that we've both seen before…"

"And that is…?"

I stopped and turned to him, "There' Flood here, I heard them, I smelled them, and I saw them. They stood right above me and I think they thought I was dead or they would have taken my body. I'm actually really quite surprised they didn't. That's how they build the Graveminds."

Thel nodded slowly in the dim light and then turned his eyes to me. They sparkled in the absence of day with a ferocity I had never seen in them. "I have seen things," He said, turning back towards where I assumed the cave entrance was, "That would make your blood curdle with disgust. If there is Flood on this planet, then it's only a matter of time."

I nodded and felt tears prick my eyes. I couldn't lose Thel like I lost Ty. My stomach lurched when I thought about all the things that this Ty, this Ty I didn't know, had more evil in him than anything I had ever seen. However, it was just another demon that could be overcome.

"I…understand. I just don't want to lose you. It's only because you're here with me I can keep Ty's demon at bay." I admitted and he reached down and took my hand. It looked so small in his giant one but it was warm and safe. "Thank you for finding me when I was lost."

He looked down at me, squeezed my hand and I felt my heart give a little flutter, "You weren't too hard to find, you just needed to admit you were lost."

I knew he wasn't just talking about the cave. I leaned into his arm and touched it with my cheek, "You saved me."

Suddenly, we stopped and he reached down and touched my cheek with his other hand_, "No, you were the one who saved me." _

I smiled up at him as tears began to fill my eyes again. I had to stop crying at every little thing but I don't think he minded. Slowly, he leaned down and I touched my lips to his helmet and I knew that this was the closest thing we would ever share to a kiss.

Suddenly, a noise, like the skittering of feet, broke our moment and we jumped away from each other like we had both been stuck with a hot poker. Thel pulled out his energy sword and I began to walk backwards, trying to make my way towards the exit of the cave which I could see ahead of us.

However, what I didn't see and what Thel did see was one of the same thing. What I didn't see was the giant spider-like creature looming down over me, infuriated at the fact that it's meal was about to walk out of the cave. What Thel saw was the rather sharp, glittering fangs ready to strike me as soon as I took another step towards its gaping maw.

"NO!" Thel yelled and sprinted over, shoved me to the ground and…fell right into the waiting jaws of the creature.

"THEL!" I screamed before realizing that this prey wasn't as tasty as me, flung him to the ground like a ragdoll. He didn't move but from here, I could see that the fangs of the spider had pierced him and there was blood everywhere. I had to save him, no matter what.

The spider clacked its pincers together and moved towards me. I took a step back and my eye flicked back to Thel. In the dim light, I thought I could still see his chest rising and falling and I took this to be a very good sign. However, I had no way to defend myself, let alone Thel. The creature watched me, as if anticipating my moves and I heard my heart beating in my ears. I was scared, far more scared than when I had been being chased through the forest. Both our lives were at stake here.

Suddenly, something caught my eye that was still clutched in Thel's hand. It was his energy sword; however I noticed that the creature also had another weapon. It had a stinger on its belly, just large enough to pierce but not large enough to kill. It would have me on my knees in a matter of seconds if I got stabbed with it.

So, slowly, never taking my eyes off of it for a moment, I made my way towards Thel, thankful to see his chest was not a trick of the light. He was still breathing, but just barely. I sidestepped over bones and rocks, taking care not to trip and the second my foot had knocked a rock from a pile, it lunged, stinger out, ready to strike me to my knees.

"Oh no you don't," I snarled and lunged out of the way, yelling in pain as I came up on my right arm. It tried skewering me on its barb but I dodged and lunged at the energy sword, finally grabbing it out of Thel's loose grip. However, when it was trying to skewer me, I didn't take into account the fact that my legs were also an apparatus of my body and as the stinger came down, it stuck rather hard in my upper thigh.

I screamed out in pain as a searing heat began to make its way into my bloodstream. It was only a matter of seconds before the poison took my heart. I rolled over and I activated the energy sword and the creature retreated slightly, probably believing I was as good as dead. However, I managed to pull myself up onto my two feet and found myself murmuring a poem that my mother had once told me when I was a little girl.

"Lions make you brave, giants give you faith, death is a charade, you don't have to feel safe to feel unafraid," I muttered under my breath as the spider began to advance towards me again. I realized that the lines of the poem were true. I was unafraid to die, if Thel was going to die with me. I was far from safe but I would fight because I was unafraid.

I let out a battle scream and went for one of its glittering eyes. Of course, it didn't see this rash move coming and so I was able to whip the sword across its face. It screamed in pain as black blood poured from what used to its left pincer. However, it managed to shake it off and came at me, fangs bared and stinger ready for another round at my flesh.

However, what it wasn't expecting was an extremely pissed off scientist who had just about enough of being a snack for giant creatures that lurked in the jungle. I ran straight at it again and it was ready. At the same time, the spider and I ran at each other at the same time and I prayed that someone would find Thel before he died. He deserved to live. Not I. I was ready to face my demons, dead or alive, I would conquer them.

The energy sword pierced its belly before the stinger pierced mine. However, when it finally did, there was no way I could be ready for the onslaught of pain that was to follow as it pierced my stomach. For a moment, neither of us moved but I came to my senses first and so with one yank, I pulled out the energy sword and drove it deep into the monster's chest. With one final shriek, the monster went limp and crashed over me and I was able to remove the stinger from my stomach with trembling fingers and roll out from underneath the spider's body.

I stood up slowly, the poison taking it's time to get through my body. Slowly I went over to the Arbiter and reached down to try and stem the flow of blood. His eyes flicked to my bloodied shirt and he reached up and touched it.

"You've been hurt." He stated and I choked back a sob.

"So have you, you big goon," I took a shaky breath and ripped off my shirt to create a tourniquet. "I can't do much but we can get you back up the mouth of the cave. Are there more Marines there?"

"Yes," His eyes flickered to my face and then to the hole in my stomach, "You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen in my life."

I bit back a cry and then wrapped my arms around his shoulders, "We need to get to the surface before anything else attacks us. I can't promise I can defend us again if something else comes calling. Can you help me?"

He nodded and we half carried, half dragged each other and I have truly no recollection of getting out of that cave but I remember bursting into daylight and screaming "HERE! HELP HIM!" It never occurred to me that there was still poison coursing through my veins. Thel fell out of my arms, at that point I think he had already passed out as I fell to the grass and inhaled the scent. It was so clean, so perfect, so much better than being in a damned cave. The Marines moved quickly, separating me from Thel.

"No, don't take him! Thel! Hang on; hang onto my voice, please!" I screamed as they got out a stretcher and loaded his body onto it. "Thel, dammit, I love you! Don't you dare give up on me!"

"Calm down, Doctor, we need to get you to lie down. The Arbiter will be fine, we promise but we need you to lie down…"

"No, you have to save him, he's going to die!" I sobbed and suddenly, something made me sit down and start screaming, "OH GODS, I AM GOING TO FUCKING DIE!"

"She was injected with the poison," A calm voice was heard and I wanted to strike, I wanted to kill that person! They were too calm and Thel was going to die and they were sitting around like they were going to some damned tea party?!

"Thel, listen to me, I love you and you have to keep fighting, no matter what happens, I…"

I blacked out.


	16. The Flood

When I awoke again, three moons were shining down on my face and I was lying in a bed. My hair had been braided skillfully into a headband like shape across my brow. My right arm was in a sling and I was in a rather plain black robe that wrapped around sort of like a hospital gown. The room was quiet and the only source of light was coming from the moon. I stood up on shaky legs and touched the side of my face, only to find perfect, smooth skin in my finger's trail. I glanced over to realize that Thel was in the bed next to mine and he was awake.

Relief washed over me and I hurried over to him. "Oh thank God you're alright," I murmured and took his hand, kissing it gently, "I didn't think you would make it."

He chuckled again and his mandibles curved up into a sort of smile, "Were it so easy."

"You scared me, more than any time than I had been in my entire life. You know, you can give a girl a heart attack going and almost dying like that."

"I would have, if it hadn't been for three words that echoed through my mind during the whole time they had me under." His eyes turned to the moon outside and I felt my face grow hot for I knew exactly what those words were. "Did you mean them, Emmaline? Or was it just the poison coursing through your veins?"

I didn't even hesitate, "Even though I loved Ty, I've fallen in love with you and I have been for some time. I'm ready to move on and you've truly saved me. Thank you for finding me when I was so lost."

He closed his eyes and his face relaxed, "Thel? Thel, answer me!"

"That's just what I wanted you to say. Emmaline?" His eyes snapped open and he caught me in his hypnotic gaze, "Will you become my mate? Will you live the rest of your days as my other half?"

I laughed slightly and waved the proposal away, "We're already destined to be married. Why ask me such a silly question?"

His face was deadly serious, "We have been bound together by our species, not by a love, but by two races who want desperately for us to get married. We need to want this, Emmaline. I believe that in your heart, when you saved me, you realized that it wasn't a species decision, but yours. Will you be my mate?"

Suddenly, I realized that he was right. I had been so caught up in the idea that I was being forced to marry him, I didn't want to but now, it would be my choice and that was something I wanted more than anything in the world.

Slowly, I began to nod and then more quickly before laughing to myself. "Yes, yes of course! I will marry you!"

I thought that would quell the demons inside. How wrong I was.

I awoke on my bed and winced as I tried to stand but found myself being pushed gently back into bed by Penny.

"Hang on, you're still a gimp, according to Dr. Beckman," She said quietly and I groaned, touching the stitching at my belly and leg.

"What the hell happened down there? I remember being skewered by a giant spider and then…nothing."

Penny glanced at the doctor and he nodded slowly. I could tell we still didn't like each other but we would be civil, for Penny's sake. "Well, you saved Thel's life, that's what you did. Don't make me remind you after you had been pumped with poison. You're lucky you both didn't die down there."

"That's what true motivation will do to ya, it will keep you alive in grim circumstances," I said sarcastically, wincing as I sat up. "How long was I out, anyway?"

Penny took my hands in her own and rubbed them, the friction making them warm. "You've been out a week, the Arbiter's been up and moving around since yesterday but this was the first time he's been out and not by your side. You've got yourself one devoted fiancée there, Miss Em."

That made me think of our conversation about being together and how it had to be our decision and not one that our species made for us. "Did he say anything about a discussion we might have shared recently…?" I began to ask but stopped when Penny giggled like a hyperactive little schoolgirl, bouncing up and down on the bed.

"You and the Arbiter are going to be wedded Forerunner style, Em! The Arbiter asked the Forerunners if they'd oversee a marriage in their culture and then when we get back from finding the Chief…they'll legally join you two! Of course, you should probably meet the one who's got the biggest stars in her eyes…this is Pstana's oldest daughter, K'vada."

A young but rather pretty Forerunner girl wearing a set of periwinkle robes I had seen on students of Forerunner teachers around the area stepped forward. She had lighter skin than her parents did but that didn't stop me from seeing the resemblance. Her long black hair was shaved slightly on the sides, another sure sign of a student and was pulled back, leaving half of it running down her back and half of it pinned to the back of her head. Small forest green dots ran down her face, bilaterally and meshed rather well with her molten gold eyes.

She bowed respectfully and smiled at me, her eyes alive with excitement, "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Dr. Jackson. My mother told me that you were intrigued with our culture she and I wanted to give you the greatest wedding in our history." Her smile widened and then she plopped down next to Penny like they had been friends for years. I now noticed the little data pad looking thing she held in her hand and she held it up to show me a dress that was rotating slowly on the platform, "This is our traditional wear, you see."

I nodded slowly and then glanced at Dr. Beckman who looked like the last thing he wanted to be doing was discussing Forerunner fashion.

"Excuse me, K'vada," He interrupted icily and K'vada turned to him, her braid down the side of her neck swinging around with her head, "Dr. Jackson will have to discuss her wedding details with you another day. She still needs her sleep and Dr. Waits needs to return to the labs."

Penny rolled her eyes and mouthed "asshole" to me and I nodded slowly. "Okay Dr. Beckman, we're leaving anyway. Come on K'vada, we'll see Em in a few days in the labs." She stood up and K'vada stood up as well.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, K'vada," I said before she left and she turned and bowed once again.

"The pleasure is all mine, Doctor! I can't wait to talk with you more; you are going to LOVE your joining ceremony!"

The two hurried out of the room, already giggling like a bunch of giddy schoolgirls and I found myself chuckling at their antics. Penny was obviously excited, as if this was her own wedding.

"Look, I know we don't like each other but as your residing physician, I have to tell you what I think would be best for you and I definitely think that's sleep. That poison took a toll on your body and we need to get you up to par for your wedding and of course, the council meeting. They have to talk to you about something you saw in the jungle…"

"What do you mean in the jungle?! You mean the…?"

He clapped a hand over my mouth before I could finish the sentence, "Quiet, you fool! If the Marines were to hear about this, it would be the end of the expedition and the end of our chance of finding anything worth finding!"

As he removed his hand I felt myself smirking, "Still convinced that the Chief is dead?"

He sniffed angrily and then turned on his heel, "I'm not convinced, I know he's dead. If the Flood is here, he's probably one of them now."

I snorted and rolled over in my bed as the light began to fade, "That's what you think. You don't know the Chief like I did."

"And you knew him for how long, Doctor? I read your file. You were on the Cairo the same time the Master Chief was but did you actually know him?"

I chose not to answer this but chuckled and closed my eyes. "Goodnight, Dr. Beckman."

When I reopened my eyes, I knew Thel was there with me. I had no nightmares and I had been sleeping like a rock. He had that effect on me. I turned over and saw him looking at me, his eyes sparkling in the light of the moon.

"Hey," I mumbled casually, leaning into his caressing gestures. "Was your proposal just a dream or are we really getting married and a kid is planning our wedding?"

Thel chuckled and then brushed a strand of a hair out of my face, "Why would you think that was a dream?"

I snuggled in beside him, "Because it was too good to be true. Except for the fact that you told both Penny and she told her little friend about our wedding…Not that I minded, mind you. But…I'm surprised you would tell her. I mean, it's not like you guys are super close or anything."

He chuckled again and wrapped an arm gently around my waist, "She's the only person I told besides my brothers. Not even your Sargent Major knows of our plans. However, the Forerunner joining was completely Dr. Waits' idea. You do realize that we're also going to have to be joined once more on Earth in a human ceremony to complete the treaty."

I laughed slightly. Earth seemed so far away to me. Probably because it was but it made me think about what had gotten me into my mess with Thel anyway. I had been a bride to be in an office not two months ago, forced into an unhappy marriage with a creature that wasn't even my species. Now, I looked at myself as the woman who not only got to sign a treaty, binding two former enemies together, I was a woman who had a bright future with the…yes, I dared think it…alien she loved.

"I can't believe I was told two months ago you had chosen me as your human." I turned to look up at him and smiled, "When did you first have real feelings for me?"

He didn't even hesitate to answer, "Five years ago when you stood in the desert of Africa and spoke in my language to honor not only your fallen but ours as well. You caught my eye immediately but what really captured my attention were the tears you shed. They were so fierce, so beautiful, I found myself wishing that I could be the one to capture those tears, to keep you safe when you had nowhere else to turn. That's why I chose you as my mate, my second half. Now," He turned to me with a mischievous glint in his eye, "Why did you choose to save me instead of fleeing for the cave exit?"

I blushed and cast my eyes down, "When you saved me, when you threw yourself into the teeth of the spider, I realized that you weren't giving me lip service. You really did and do love me and at that moment, I realized that I too, loved you and when that spider turned on me," I turned my eyes upwards to look into Thel's, "I realized that I wanted…no, NEEDED to save you, to keep you safe, even if it meant that I would be hurt or killed in the process. I just wanted you to live because I know if you died and I lived, then I would have been dead inside."

He was silent for a moment before pulling me closer to him and touching his forehead against mine, "I would never leave you. I will follow you, no matter where you go."

I found myself smiling and I closed my eyes, "Thank you, you are truly all I could as for and more. I could never repay you for what you've done for me."

I felt his fingers trace the wound at my belly and I felt his mandibles turn down into a frown, "You have paid dearly for something that was never a chore but a pleasure, far more than I could ever ask you to pay."

I laughed slightly and then closed the gap between us, pressing myself against his body. "It was my pleasure to save the Arbiter, instead of the other way around."

He wrapped his arms around my waist and tangled his mandibles in my hair. "You are my life now, Emmaline. Not the Covenant, not even my own brothers. You are everything to me. I would have done the same for you."

I sighed and snuggled closer to him, enjoying the close contact we had shared so sparsely in month past. "When I get well again, I want us to be together and I don't want anything to stand in the way of that. You're all I want; a life with you is the only thing I desire."

"And you will get that, I promise."

I mumbled a response and then, slowly, closed my eyes to the world and focused on my Arbiter's breathing.

* * *

Three days later, I was admitted from the hospital with scars on my thigh and belly from the spider and cuts and bruises on the rest of my body from my river journey. My arm was still slung in a cast but I didn't mind as K'vada readied my outfit. I would come before the council as a guest speaker and so I had to wear special robes that had been designed for that very use.

"You look lovely, Dr. Jackson," She assured me as she braided my hair down my face again. My face was relatively clear of makeup except for the highlights that had been applied to draw attention away from my beat up face. The robes I was wearing were a deep green and were trimmed with a dark gold material. They fell off my shoulders slightly but were held up by the under robes that clung to my body.

"Am I ready to go in?" I asked softly as the same council member who had shown us in the first time came out of the doors and nodded to K'vada who bowed respectfully back. She had told me, while I was getting ready, that she was in line for the leader of the council when her mother passed on to be with her grandmother.

"It's the oldest born of the family," She explained as she tied my sash into an elaborate knot, "It just so happened that my mother and grandmother were the firstborn in our families.

"So, why do you guys have tattoos?" I asked, the last syllable of 'tattoo' coming away in a gasp as she tugged on another cord. She glanced at me in the mirror and tucked another seam into place.

"We have tattoos to symbolize our current statuses in our lives. I have the bilateral dots," Here she gestured to her forehead, "To symbolize I am a student of some renown, studying music," She pulled up the sleeve of her robe and showed me a series of Forerunner symbols on her wrist, "art, culture, and science under teachers," The other sleeve came up and I saw the names of her teachers in Forerunner language, "of great skill. I am also the daughter of the head council member which gets me this," She pointed to her chest and there was a symbol that looked like Halo. I shivered slightly in remembrance but she didn't seem to notice.

"You would have tattoos to show you are a scientist, a woman who has served her species in war, and that you are right now to be married." She touched the sleeve of my robe and smiled at me. A wave of butterflies erupted in my stomach and I smiled to myself.

I stepped through the door of the council with K'vada who nodded and then took her seat at her mother's side. The council member who had brought me in showed me where to sit and I noticed that I was getting many strange looks from the Forerunners in the room.

"Welcome, to all members of our esteemed council," Pstana gestured to the room and then her eyes fell on me, "And welcome to Dr. Emmaline Jackson, our guest speaker who came back from the brink of death to deliver an important message to us. Dr. Jackson, you have the floor."

My mouth went dry. I wanted to throw up or pass out right there. I couldn't deliver this news, I just couldn't!

"Members of the council," I said in a shaky voice, "When I was in the jungle with my team, I saw a creature that had distinguishing characteristics I have only seen on one being in my entire life. I attempted to follow said being but as you are probably already aware, I was chased by a creature and fell into a river," My voice grew stronger as I spoke and my hand gestures growing immensely, "The creature that took me was a rather large concern, but what I heard, smelled and saw on the beach of the monster's lair was something completely different. Council members, what I saw in the forest were the Flood."

Shocked gasps and cries of alarm and rage echoed my accusation and I felt myself blushing and wanting to sink into the floor. Anger filled my ears but all I could hear was the blood pumping so hard that I was seeing red.

"We would have known about their presence! We were ready for them! That's what we fought for!" A male cried in anger and another took up his cry.

"We would have seen the signs! We would have known about them!"

"Settle down, settle down!" Pstana was yelling and slowly, the council meeting began to return to its original state except for the consistent buzzing of those who had been angered by the announcement. "The council of our ancestors knew they could not hold off the Flood forever. This is why the Installations were built! To eradicate the Flood! However, what they were not aware of was the fact that the Covenant released them on Installation 004 for they were all dead. I was only aware that the rings had fired and unfortunately, the Flood came with the Metal Man they search for." She closed her eyes and sighed in frustration, "We all get what we bargain for though."

"You KNEW they were here?!" I demanded, standing up from my chair, "Why didn't you leave?! Why didn't you evacuate the planet when you realized that they were here?"

"Because I know what's best for my people, Dr. Jackson," She snapped sharply, "If we had evacuated, where could we go?! We would only be killed by your people and the Covenant would have stripped us bare!"

In my heart, I knew she was right. Buy why doom a planet?! I had a feeling there was more to this story met the eye but I decided not to pry. I was already angry enough to yell more.

"We created barriers," She continued, "To never allow anything into the city that hadn't been invited. We needed to keep our people safe, Dr. Jackson. Don't you understand that?!" her voice was angry and upset and I knew that Pstana was on the verge of tears. "I needed to keep them alive for as long as possible." Her eyes turned back to her council, "Do you not understand?! We have nowhere to go!"

I sighed and her eyes flicked back to me, "Let us find the Chief," I began, "And you can come back to earth with us. I will explain everything with the UNSC but you need to get off this planet before somebody else dies."

She closed her eyes once again and then they snapped back up to me, "We will accept your invitation, Dr. Jackson. When you find your Spartan, we will return with you and start a new life for ourselves."

I took a deep breath and nodded, feeling a blush crawling up my cheeks. I hadn't spoken to anyone about this, not Holmes or Hoffman or anyone. I bowed deeply and came up with a worry in my heart. What would I tell them? 'Oh, yes, by the way, I asked for a species of alien to come with us back to Earth, I hope you don't mind.'

I groaned inwardly but the next sentence that followed out of Pstana's mouth helped the situation immensely.

"We will take our own ship, of course. Yours is far too damaged to be fixed, as our mechanics found out," She explained calmly and I nodded. I guessed the Dancing Nile would stay on this planet for the rest of its existence.

"Thank you very much, for that." I nodded to the rest of the council and took my seat as they began to discuss other matters of business; however the mood wasn't nearly as light and fluffy as it had been before I had dropped the bomb of the Flood.

Suddenly, the business of a wedding was brought up. My head snapped up and I glanced at K'vada and I noticed she was smiling at me.

"Ah, yes, the happy couple," Pstana smiled gently at me and I found myself blushing deeply, "You may deny this Dr. Jackson but we as a people want to join you in Forerunner fashion and Forerunners are extremely stubborn and persuasive. So when should the ceremony commence?"

"I think personally, we should do it in the next couple of days, just in case the Flood chooses to make their appearance at our gates." Pstana agreed and I felt my eyes go wide. A few days? I wasn't ready! Marriage was supposed to be thought out and planned, not done at the drop of a hat!

"Um…uh…" managed to get out before someone touched my shoulder. It was a wizened council member; his hair was iron grey as was his beard.

"My dear," he began, "We see little joy in our community. If we are to leave any moment, at least let our people get one more sliver of joy in planning your joining."

I was stunned and frightened. Marry Thel within two days? Could my wedding be pulled together so quickly? Slowly, my lips mouthed yes, barely believing what I was agreeing too. He nodded respectfully and sat back down and then I looked back at Pstana who also was smiling.

"We will have the ceremony in two days, rest assured."


	17. Pre-Wedding Thoughts

I had to escape the frilly robes and decorations that the council members wore and so I returned to the armory in jeans, sneakers and a tee shirt where they had weapons in the thousands. My hand landed on an energy sword and I pulled it out of its cradle, activating it with a HISS. The sickly white and purple glow made me feel safe, as if I could do anything. It was huge but I didn't mind.

I swung it around like Thel had taught me to do with a stick and suddenly; my energy sword was met with someone else's. I gasped in surprise when I saw it was Thel!

"Oh, hey," I grinned sheepishly, pushing down the butterflies in my stomach. "I was just trying to get back into the whole fighting thing again. I didn't want to get all rusty."

He chuckled and disarmed me in one unpretentious twist of his wrist. Bastard. "I doubt you would get rusty, Emmaline."

"Well there is always that chance," I teased and he rolled his eyes behind his armor. I glanced behind him and saw his Elites standing there, being modest as usual. I knew they weren't too fond of me but they held their tongues. "Thel, I need to talk to you alone really quick."

He arched an eyebrow ridge and lowered his head down so I could whisper to him, "The Forerunners are coming with us as soon as we find the Chief. They knew it was flood all along and there's nothing else they can do," I paused to take a breath, "And we're getting married in two days."

He pulled back and nodded, "I knew about the second thing. Have you spoken to Holmes?"

I shook my head quickly, "That's where I was going next, before I ran into you. I needed to take my mind off stuff."

"I understand," The Arbiter said, touching my shoulder, a friendly gesture but I missed the intimate moments we had shared, "Talk to Holmes and we'll talk later."

I smiled at him, put the sword back into its cradle and hurried off to find our master in command.

* * *

_ "It's a lovely pond, Xavier," Hoffman assured him and indeed it was. Strange plants floated on its surface and bugs skimmed the glassy shallows, looking for things to eat. Trees that resembled willows draped over statues and benches with strange Forerunner symbols on them. A trail ringed the pool that was made out of white rocks._

_ "I'm glad you like it."_

_ "But why the hell are we here?"_

_ He laughed and took her hands in his. He was taller than her by a good half foot and Alex wondered if he could have been a Spartan himself. He was so tall, strong and good looking, a real leader. However, then she would have known them. She knew the rules on Spartans, she had heard of 117. He hadn't loved anyone. When he saw the body of a fallen comrade, he never stopped; he just checked the body for extra ammo or the occasional med pack and kept going. She thought for a second if she might have been one of those bodies._

_ "I wanted to give you something." He explained and pulled her over to sit on the wall of white that circled the pond. They sat down and Hoffman arched an eyebrow._

_ "YOU wanted to give me something? That seems so unlike you, Xavier."_

_ He chuckled at her little joke and then squeezed her hands tighter, "Look, I know that we're not always the happiest people in the world and I know I wasn't the most faithful person in the world before we broke up but I want things to be different between us. I want us to have a shot at this again and with the Arbiter and Dr. Jackson getting married…I asked some locals on how to propose and so they showed me."_

_ He leaned in and kissed her as gently as he could on the lips and Alex shivered slightly. When he pulled away, she was pleased to see he was blushing._

_ "Well, I want to know Alex, will you marry me as soon as we get back to Earth?" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring that was unlike one she had ever seen before._

_ "Oh my gosh…Xavier…" She murmured and took the ring, "But what if what happens before happens again? What if you meet another pretty girl and have another affair with her and leave me standing up at the altar again?"_

_ He squeezed her hand and kissed her on the forehead, "I'm older and wiser now. All those times with Lily I realized that I was only really happy with you and I want to be happy again. I haven't been in a really long time."_

_ "Oh Xavier…" She murmured and kissed him again, "Of course."_

_ She pulled away and glanced towards the path that led back towards the city and saw a woman's shape coming down the trail. She realized instantly, with some disdain, it was Dr. Jackson. A surge of hate went through her belly. She resembled Lily in so many ways. Her hair, her eyes, her gait, even her personality was quite a bit like Holmes' old flame._

_ "Oh, hello Dr. Jackson," Holmes was all business the second her foot stepped onto the circular walkway._

_ "I'm sorry; I'm not interrupting anything, am I? I need to tell you something, Sargent Major…"_

* * *

It was exactly 12 hours until my wedding and I couldn't sleep. Thel had been moved out of my room because apparently they thought we were going to have sex and that couldn't be done until we had participated in all the perfectly uniformed ceremonies that had been planned. So, I was in the training center in a tank top and sweat pants with a wooden pole I had found leaning up against the wall, practicing against a rather well matched opponent. It was technically a robot that matched the opponent's skills.

Jasper leaned up against a wall and watched me train against the robot. I had hoped the workout would calm me down but it was just making me tenser. I was getting married in 12 hours for the love of crying out loud!

"You know that whenever you hit the thing harder it' just going to step it up another notch, correct?" He asked as I blew a tuft of hair out of my face. To be done up in the traditional Forerunner style, they had to add on synthetic hair, way longer than I was comfortable with. I had had military length hair since I left five years earlier and the fact that it was long didn't help me whatsoever.

"Oh shut up Jas," I gasped as I parried a strike that it threw my way. "I'm just nervous, that's all. I don't think any wedding has gone up this fast in the history of the universe. Seriously, I mean in all history…"

"To come to the defense of the Arbiter," Jasper interjected, "He had his eye on you for 5 years."

"Not helping in the slightest."

"My apologies, Doctor."

I laughed and waved for the robot to return to its home against the wall. "I'm so nervous though. I mean, I know it's normal for a bride to be nervous on her wedding day…night…thingy but seriously. I'm a girl who loves an alien, an alien we were at war with not too long ago. It's weird but it feels so right."

"See, I cannot attest to that because, alas, I am nothing but a collection of data bases." Jasper laughed to himself as I wiped off my forehead. "I'm glad we actually got the opportunity to talk before you got married."

"Oh? And why is that?" I asked, leaning against the wall. "Do you have some pent up emotion you've always wanted to tell me about?" I chuckled at the idea and then grabbed a lightweight jacket I had brought to training.

"No, I just wanted to tell you that I've enjoyed working immensely with you, Doctor. You're an inspiration to a lot of good scientists, I know Rachel Oster really looks up to you. I saw her trying to flirt with a Forerunner male the other day. It didn't go as well as she thought it might have liked but I think you've started a trend of going for alien men."

I chuckled and then replaced the wooden pole. "It's not a trend that I definitely wanted to start, trust me."

"Ah well, we're all saints and sinners, what are you going to do?" He asked and I laughed and rolled my eyes.

"A relative term, those saints and those sinners," I told him as I zipped up my jacket. "I'll hopefully see you in the morning. If I don't, you know I ran away and allowed a Flood to take over my body."

He sighed and rolled his eyes, "Goodnight, Dr. Jackson."

"Goodnight Jas, I'll see you on the wayside."

I turned, allowed the doors to open for me and hurried out to the elevator which would take me back down to the ground level of the facility. I stepped out into the silent night air and shivered when the cold touched my skin. The perspiration that was beaded on my skin glistened like dew drops and I hurried back to the room which the marines now called "The Comb" because it reminded them of a honeycomb. As soon as I found my room, I flopped down onto the covers and looked up at the ceiling. Tomorrow night, I would be sharing my bed. Not like we hadn't already slept together…with clothes on, of course but still…it would be different tomorrow.

After the dancing, the drinks, the ceremony, we would return to a secret place where we could have our wedding night…Oh gods, I was so nervous! What if I wasn't as good as a Sanghelli female? All these thought bounced around in my brain, I could barely sleep and so I decided that a shower was the best place for a girl like me at a time like this. I stood under the hot spray, wishing desperately I could get the thoughts of tomorrow night out of my head.

However, the less I wanted to think about it, the more I did. I thought about Thel's taut, toned body and the way he made my legs turn to jelly and that talented tongue of his…I was guessing he was pretty large in the department most men wanted to be in and I began to feel my stomach turn in knots and I attempted to keep my hand away from my most intimate place.

However, the more I thought about it, the hotter my face became and the more I wanted…him… My hand slid between my legs and my thumb met my clit, perky and ready for attention. However, I needed to get this over with as possible. Thoughts of our bodies pressing together filled my head as my fingers entered my body and curled in my most intimate places. I whispered his name over and over, twisting my fingers deeper and deeper into my body.

"Ah…Thel…Thel…" I moaned over and over, my other hand going to one of my perky nipples. I slid down the wall of the shower, one hand between my legs, the other dancing along my chest, pulling, pinching and rubbing. The hot water gurgled down the drain as my hips bucked wildly to try and accommodate my rising pace.

"Thel…harder…please…" I whimpered to nobody and the moan turned to cries and the cries turned to howls of his name as my body jerked one last time and my world shattered around me. I gave one last wail of pleasure before collapsing to the floor of the shower, still swimming in ecstasy.

I hadn't done that in an extremely long time but my body just begged to be pleasured. With the thoughts, pleasure and shame still coursing through my body, I opened the bathroom door, staggering slightly and crossed over to the bed in the middle of the room.

Not bothering to dress into my pajamas, I drew back the covers and flopped down into a warm cocoon of soft blanket and in a haze of pure happiness; I drifted off into a cloud of fuzzy dreams.


	18. Joining as One

"Okay, it's time to get up, right now!" I heard K'vada's voice in my ear and I moaned and rolled over, exposing my back, "Dr. Jackson, why are you naked?"

"What time is it?" I mumbled, glancing over at the panel on the wall. It really didn't do any good, especially because the clock was in Forerunner symbols. Thel's bunk was empty, but it was to be expected.

"It's time for you to start getting ready," K'vada said irritably, "It seriously took me a half hour in your time to wake you up! What in the name of our great ancestors were you doing last night?"

I blushed deeply and wrapped the blanket around my body, "I couldn't sleep. Besides, why are you here?"

She rolled her eyes and suddenly, my eyes flicked to someone standing in the corner, her frizzy locks pulled back into a rather sleek bun. She grinned crookedly at me and then winked.

"Good morning future Mrs. Arbiter!" She laughed and I groaned, fell back onto my bed and stuffed a pillow over my head. "We came to help you get beautified and trust me; you need all the help you can get."

"I'm in charge of getting you ready. Mom's got everything else handled, apparently." She glanced down at a pad in her hand and touched it. When she did so, a photo of me popped up above a rather long list of things to do and when to do them. I groaned again and then began to give a moan that turned into snores.

"Hey! There will be no sleeping from the bride to be!" Penny scolded, grabbing my wrist and pulling me up.

"I need sleep for tonight!" I whined and Penny glanced at K'vada who gave no notification to what I had said. Penny gave me a teacher look and I grinned sheepishly, "Sorry, force of habit?"

"Get in the shower, Miss Pervert," Penny laughed and pushed me into the shower, blanket and all and I mooned her before shutting the door. I heard them talking but didn't pay much attention as I dropped the blanket and soaked my head in the hot water and made sure that I was careful of the long extensions. Shaving came next and then I was finished. I stepped out of the shower, the blanket still wrapped around my now dry body. (The shower had come equipped with a dryer which had been heaven each time I used it)

As soon as I was out of the shower, Penny handed me a roll of white linen. I looked at her and then the linen and made a face. "What the hell is this?"

"You bind your breasts with it ding-a-ling. The dress falls off your shoulders and so you need this instead of a normal bra.

"Oh…makes sense," I grinned sheepishly and Penny and K'vada began to help bind me up. "So what am I doing after this?" I asked as then threw a rather plain and light robe over my shoulders.

"We need to go get your hair done," K'vada explained and I fumbled with the ties of the robe until I had a rather ugly looking bow. They pushed me out of the room and down the hall and I gave one last look back at my comfortable bed. There went any notion of sleeping.

"We've got hair, makeup, dressing and then the real deal," She explained, "Good thing we had a practice run through so you're not too nervous!"

"You have no idea, kid," I said as the three of us strolled along the paths to an unknown location, getting looks from Forerunners as we walked. They weren't used to seeing a scandalously clad female human but it was the only look they were ever gonna get. K'vada spoke more about the wedding and the Arbiter's location. Elites, I knew had to meditate before they did anything with a female Sanghelli so I could almost be positive that this where they were.

Finally, we came up to a building that was short and resembled an ancient Greek temple in stature but everything else screamed Forerunner. We walked up the stairs and the door opened instantly for us, allowing us to walk into the foyer where Forerunner females moved around gracefully.

"They're going to do your hair and makeup," K'vada explained as the females took me away from my friends and dropped me down onto a rather fancy chair that floated precariously about a foot off the ground. They chatted excitedly and I glanced from K'vada to Penny who shrugged and grinned ear to ear.

"Oh shut up," I laughed as my hair began to be pulled and brushed to be done up into something hopefully a little more regal looking. A paint pot full of a deep purple was produced and one female began to draw on my face.

"You must be given the proper marks of a female who is about to be joined," She explained softly as the brush tickled my nose.

Finally, the brush dropped back into the pot after several hours of sitting completely still, even though I had people ripping brushes through my hair every ten seconds.

"Okay, I think she's ready for her dress," the female doing my tattoos which dipped precariously low on my breastbone. My hands had also been covered in beautiful designs and I couldn't help thinking of henna and how much I had wanted to get it when I was a kid. Well, now my wish came true.

I was helped out of the chair and wasn't allowed to see my face which also had been done in a bit of makeup to help bring out my dark eyes. My lips were also painted in a deep red color and I smiled at Penny who smiled back.

"You look absolutely beautiful. I cannot wait until you see yourself in the mirror. You look like an Indian goddess or something!" She gushed and I laughed uncomfortably.

"Thanks but right now, I just wanna be Em, getting married in an hour. Oh boy. Penny, I'm getting married in an hour!" I shrieked as the realization hit me and I leaned down and grabbed her, "I'm not ready for this! I'm only 30 for God's sake!"

"Em, calm down, it would have happened anyway!" She removed my hands from her tee shirt and then allowed me to be lead down the halls of the facility, muttering, "oh gods, oh gods," The whole way down.

"Okay, dress time," K'vada said calmly as four Forerunner women held different parts of the dress. There was no mirror in the room besides the one at the very end of the hallway but I couldn't even see myself. I stepped onto a pedestal and the robe was stripped from my body. I shivered slightly in the cold air but allowed myself to be placed in an under robe which was actually strapless but stayed up with a rather handy tie that allowed it to be tied several different ways. They finally found one that worked for me and then, another layer followed the first one.

This one was a deep gold and shimmered slightly as I moved and this one was meant to be worn strapless but as soon as I slipped it on I realized it wasn't.

"It's a design that will stay up no matter what," K'vada explained as I swished around in it. It really did look like molten gold had formed to my body but that was only the first layer of the cake that was to be my dress. "Okay, we have on more layer and then the sash.

The final and most beautiful piece of my dress almost took my breath away. It was a deep black, interwoven with deep purple thread, creating an intricate scene as I moved that matched the tattoos on my body. It fell off my shoulders and exposed just a few of the tattoos on my chest, leaving quite a bit to the imagination. A deep blue sash moved around the bottom of my ribcage to create an empire waist, leaving the front of the robe open to show the golden layer underneath. The sleeves were attached to the dress but left enough room to move freely. The sleeves were cut out at choice places in my arms and you could see the tattoos that graced the pale flesh of my arms.

On the dress, simple jewels that sparkled in different shade that matched the dress and sash sparkled in the light of the temple.

"No way…" Penny murmured, her eyes filling with tears as she looked at me, "You are so beautiful, Em. The Arbiter is seriously going to fall over when he sees you."

"I certainly hope so," I said, grinning sheepishly, stepping into a pair of black flats that sparkled like the night sky. K'vada grinned and nodded to the Forerunner women. "Thank you so much for what you've done for me."

"Do not thank us," The eldest one said, "Until you've seen yourself in the mirror."

They led me down the hallway until we stopped in front of the mirror. In the mirror was a creature that did hold a striking resemblance to Emmaline Jackson. Her hair was pinned back and decorated with jewels and feathers while a braid hung down over her right shoulder. She also had strange markings all over her face that traced up her left cheek and down her right. Her eyes sparkled with an excitement she had never known before and the dress…the dress was the finale to the creature that stared back at me.

"I look…I look…"

"Like a goddess, Em," Penny finished the statement before putting a hand on my shoulder. "You look amazing. Oh wait, before I forget!" She pulled out of her pocket several items and held them out to me. "Just thought I would bring a little tradition into the mix. Something old…" Here she produced a pocket watch that looked to be extremely ancient, "Something new," A small twig holding budding leaves, "Something borrowed," Jasper's data card, "And of course, something blue." She pulled her hair out of the blue ponytail holder and grabbed my hand, "With luck, I'll be the next one!" She smiled as she slipped it onto my wrist and I reached forward to give her a hug.

"I know we've only known each other a few months but I want you to know," I said, my voice thick with emotion, "You're the best friend a girl could have."

"You too, Em." She mumbled and I gave her a kiss on the cheek before letting go. "Now, I've gotta go. The wedding starts soon as I'm sure you're super nervous."

I turned to go but a stern voice halted me in my tracks.

"Wait," The eldest woman spoke again and held a rather interesting contraption in her hands. It was attached to a headband but had a length of sheer blue fabric hanging down from the back and a little one from the front, like a veil. Long ribbon had been attached to the sides and from the ribbon hung small rings that probably represented something. "You need this."

I smiled slightly and kneeled down so she could place it on my head. The blue fabric fell into my eyes and I flipped it up, trying not to get the ribbons tangled. "Am I ready?"

She smiled and closed her eyes, "Our ancestors look fondly down at this joining, I am sure of it."

I sighed and felt a flutter in my stomach, knowing what was going to happen in an hour. Apparently the temple came with a built in elevator because we went down another hallway and stepped onto the telltale plate.

"Are you feeling alright?" One of the females asked me softly and I laughed nervously.

"Is it that obvious?" I asked miserably and somebody handed me a rather well decorated flask. It was hot in my hands and they nodded to it.

"It's a tea that will calm you. Do not worry, Little Doctor, you will be alright." She assured me and I popped out the cork and inhaled. It smelled fruity and sweet and I gave it a tentative taste. Sure enough, it definitely was tea. Instantly, my stomach began to calm and I took another sip. However, I was slightly worried the tea was alcoholic and so I stopped drinking it and popped the cork back on.

We stepped into another building as the elevator paused and then came another elevator to the top of the ground, once again.

Finally, I walked out into the warm sunlight, feeling new and delighted. I really did feel better from the tea. Forerunners were milling around but as soon as I stepped out into the daylight, they looked at me; mouths open in awe and shock.

I smiled sheepishly as I was shoved to a tent and the tent door closed behind me before K'vada said something in Forerunner language.

"What did you say?" I asked and she smiled reassuringly at me.

"I have to go. There must always be a child present at a wedding, it's said the child binds the couple and I happen to be that child." She gave me a gentle squeeze and said something into the folds of my dress and hurried out of the tent. Instantly, the Forerunner women were back on me, fixing hairs out of place, smudged makeup and wrinkles in my dress.

Finally, after this, I heard a fanfare and I took my spot inside the tent, like I had been instructed. Slowly, the doors opened and all heads turned to see me. All four hundred marines gawked at my new style as I began to float down the aisle. It was similar in this sense to earths, but the next few parts were strangely different.

I stepped up the stairs to the gazebo that held Victorium in his deep purple robes. He smiled and winked at me and I smiled back. Suddenly, a new noise was heard and I glanced over to see Thel too walking down to stand with me. I could see the shock of my dress in his eyes and I felt my heart skip several beats as I saw him in his armor, gleaming and shining in the setting sun.

He took his place next to me and I reached down to grab his hand. He took mine with as much gusto and squeezed it softly.

"Kneel," Victorium's calm, strong voice was the only thing that kept me connected to the ground. We did as such and he reached inside his robe and brought out a stick made of black charcoal like material. With that, he drew a Forerunner symbol onto Thel's helmet and then my forehead. "O Ancestors of Ole!" He raised his voice and raised his hands, palm upward. "We bring forth to you not only two lovers that have found solace on our dear planet, but two cultures that will prosper for years to come! Arise, my children, and grasp your love."

I took a bowl that was filled with a clear liquid and a flower floating on top and Thel took out the flower and tucked into my braid. "I will forever be your protector, your guardian and friend. With every breath I take, I will take it for you for you are my life, my sunrise, my song and I ask, now, Emmaline, that you will be mine forevermore."

I drank deeply from the bowl and placed it at my feet. The bowl was filled with water but it had been collected from a sacred place to the Forerunners, a fountain at the highest peak of the mountains. Thel was then presented with his own bowl and this had a string of beads inside of it. I took it out gently and he bent his head down so I could drape them around his neck.

"I will forever be your rock in a sea of uncertainty, your song in times of trouble and your lover," I recited perfectly, "With every step I take, I will walk beside you, keeping you steady on the path of life. You are my love, my hope, and my strength and I ask, now, Thel, that you will be forever mine."

He too drank from his bowl and traced the tattoo on my forehead.

"I will be, forever, yours."

"I too, will be forever yours, my dear, dear Thel."

From the corner of my eye, I could see K'vada taking her own place next to Victorium. Once again we kneeled in front of her and she smiled at both of us and poured the remaining water from our bowls into a rather large decanter. Using a black rag, she dipped it in the water and brought it up to the symbols on our foreheads, washing them away.

"You may once again, rise," She said steadily and we both did so and we turned to the crowd, hand in hand. "I declare these lovers sanctioned by our great ancestors! They have approved of the joining! May the great Forerunners before us be praised!"

We raised our hands as the crowd erupted into yells of excitement and happiness. I turned to Thel, reached up on tiptoes and kissed him right on the helmet in happiness.

"Leave it for the bedroom!" Lopez yelled above the din and we pulled away, me grinning madly and Thel's mandibles were turned up into a cocky grin.

"Mr. and Mrs. Arbiter!" Perkins hooted and Penny grabbed him in a hug which he gladly accepted. I was happy for them but I couldn't help thinking about what Kyat'ra had said about Penny stealing the beast's heart. Who was she destined for?

However, this was shoved out of my mind once the festivities started. Food and drink were passed around and a band started playing a rather upbeat tune and Forerunners began to teach the marines and Sanghelli to dance. All in all, it looked like the start of a rather wild party. I looked at Thel and he looked back at me, his mandibles still turned up in a smile. He reached in and grabbed my waist and brought me in close.

"I love you," He murmured and touched my forehead to his. I brought the distance between us to a close and I kissed him gently on where his mark had been.

"And I love you," I promised him and he gave me a squeeze around the middle, "And I can't wait to spend the rest of forever together."

"Forever beings right now and tonight, I plan to take your hand and show you the stars."

I snorted and felt the nervousness bubble into my stomach again, "Lend me your hand and I'll show you the stars, Thel. I have my own tricks up my sleeve."

He pulled away and arched an eyebrow, "Is that so? Well, I look forward to seeing this trick, Emmaline."

I blushed and we let go of each other, allowing Forerunners, Sanghelli and marines to come up and awkwardly congratulate us. I knew the Sanghelli were never too keen on the whole idea but I didn't care, I had the love of my life as my own now and nothing would ever take him away from me.

Penny grabbed me from Thel's arms and began dancing with K'vada and Lopez to the fast beat of a song that was completely unfamiliar to me. I found it rather hard to dance in a veil and big old robe and so the veil and top part of my robe came off and I took out the hair except for the braid.

K'vada laughed as I began bouncing up and down, as if I was still in high school. They joined me until someone tapped my arm and I whirled around to see Tys'ya looking at me with a glint in her eye.

"You are expected to sing a song in honor of your mate," She told me and I felt myself blush slightly.

"I don't actually sing," I told her matter-of-factly, "See, there's this thing called being tone deaf and…"

"You are expected to sing, my dear," She said bitterly and so, shrugging at Penny and K'vada, I hurried to catch up with Tys'ya. "Do you have a song picked out?" She asked as group parted to let us through.

"Well…not really because I was just told about this," I said sarcastically and was suddenly I was in front of the crowds and I felt my stomach contort into knots. Oh gods, it was terrifying. Someone handed me something that looked vaguely like a microphone and I tapped it, getting the residual feedback that usually came with a bad performance.

"Uh…well…hi…" I began, waving awkwardly. "Apparently I was supposed to do that but was only just informed about it but I have to sing a song dedicated to Thel, but seriously, if he's heard me sing, then he will definitely not want this."

Laughter ripped through the crowd and I smiled sheepishly. "However, you're lucky I played the piano in high school and so I know one song that hopefully will sound less like a dying cat than anything else I could play."

The musical instrument at the far end of the clearing was large, black and resembled very slightly a piano and I hoped to God that I could play it decently. If I couldn't…we were in trouble.

"This song is really, really old so if it sounds cheesy, don't blame me, blame the 600 year old song writer."

I took a seat at the musical instrument, attempted to find middle C and then made my way from there. I began to pound out a rather haunting melody that probably would have been a lot more haunting if I wasn't so damn rusty.

_"A fallen star, fell from your heart, and landed in my eyes, _

_ I screamed aloud, as it tore through the moonlight that's left me blind…" _

The song, Cosmic Love, a piece that I still found quite beautiful after discovering it in an ancient songbook when I was a sophomore in high school, was the only one that even sort of came to mind when I thought of Thel.

_"The stars, the moon they have all been blown out, _

_ You left me in the dark, _

_ No dawn, no day, I'm always in this twilight…" _

A woman who fell in love quickly and wasn't sure if her beloved loved her back. She was in the dark on his love and when it came to the bridge between the chorus and verse, she knew that he finally loved her.

_"I took the stars from our eyes and I made a map, _

_ And you left somehow and could find your way back, _

_ But I heard your heart beating; you were in the darkness too, _

_ So I stayed in the darkness with you…"_

The song finished on a forte and I stepped away from the instrument before I could make a worse fool out of myself and bowed slightly. People were applauding politely, meaning I hadn't given the roaring anthem they were hoping for. Ah well…

The party continued well into the night with drinking, food and festivities with the air of hopefulness. The plan was to go back out and look for the Chief the next day. So much for a honeymoon but tonight…I was planning to do a little intergalactic travel myself.

Finally, the party began to dispense with Forerunners bidding farewell to marines and Sanghelli. I felt Thel grasp my hand and I looked up and smiled at him.

"Shall we converse back to our room?" I asked with a little grin before Tys'ya walked up to us and for the first time since I met her, I felt her mischievous aura.

"We have a special place for your…first night together," She strung her word together carefully, "At the top of the highest tower; there are several rooms there for those who have been joined. It is to be closer to our ancestors so they will bless you with many children. Follow me."

Taking Thel's hand, I began to shake gently. He gave me a squeeze and we followed Tys'ya across the plaza until we reached a building that stretched so high into the air, one had to crane their neck and shield their eyes from the moon to see where it was.

"This is where I bid you a very, very goodnight," She smiled and then glided away, shooing away K'vada who obviously was still too young to know about the birds and bees.

Thel's hand was the only thing that kept me steady as we stepped onto the elevator that quickly sped up to top floor. On the way up there, I looked at Thel and saw him taking off his helmet.

"Come here," He murmured and grabbed my waist and we looked at each other for a split seconds before his mandibles captured my lips and quickly dominated my mouth as I slid forward, his tongue reaching forward and slipping his tongue into my mouth. I was surprised at first, but I allowed him to take dominance, his slender tongue having far more agility than mine ever would. I tilted my head ever so slightly to the side and Thel growl possessively and gripped my waist tighter.

However, his tongue didn't stay there long as he began to slide his mandibles down my neck, stopping to touch the pressure point.

I moaned in contact and lifted my arms to wrap them around his neck. I closed my eyes in rapture as his hand drifted from my waist to grab my thigh and wrap it around his waist. The second his fingers strayed from my thigh to brush the sensitive underside of my right breast, that we were in trouble unless one of us stepped in.

"Hey," I said, struggling to keep my voice calm, "We are NOT going to lose ourselves in this elevator. I simply forbid it."

He chuckled deeply in his throat before letting me down with a little thud. My heart racing my ears, we stepped out of the elevator and into the hallway that was lined with doors. The one on the end was the only one unlocked and so we made our way down the hall and when the door opened, my breath was taken away.

The room we had just stepped into was the most amazing place I had ever seen in my entire life. The whole top of the room was made out of glass and the floor was indented into a bed so the occupants could lie comfortably side by side. Pillows were thrown haphazardly everywhere and blankets were piled up so the users of the room could be covered up after anything that went on.

Moonlight poured in through the room but every occasional spot, there was a candle that flickered in the room. I sighed and smoothed out my dress and turned to Thel to ask him something stupid…I didn't even remember when I felt myself being thrown forward and onto the bedding that almost knocked out my breath.

"Thel! What the heck?!" I demanded but he deactivated his cameo before I could say anything else. He was above me, his mandibles splayed in pride as if I was a piece of meat and he was about ready to devour me, which probably wasn't too far from the truth.

"I've waited long enough, dear one. Tonight, you are mine and there is nothing stopping me from taking every notion you've had about my kind and throwing that out of your mind."

I was too shocked to speak as his mandibles graced my throat and a hand came up to remove one of my arms from the invisible strap. Oh yes, this was definitely a night that I would ever forget.

His tongue slipped into the hollow of my throat and I arched my back. He grabbed his and pressed our bodies together and I reached up to grasp his back, moaning. There was nothing that had ever readied me for this contact. His hand came up and ran up my calf before resting on my now exposed thigh, pulling my leg up to wrap around his waist. He didn't need to tell me twice, I was his through and through and I knew that it wouldn't take me long to lose myself to him.

"Are you frightened?" He murmured and tightened my grip on him.

"Not if I'm with you," I breathed and went down into temptation. My fingers slipped over his armor, looking for any release to keep it from his body. He shooed my fingers away his chest plate came off. His helmet was already gone from our little romp in the elevator so there was really no need to remove that and as he did this; I pulled myself up onto my forearms and reached for his face, dragging him back into a rather awkward kiss. Our tongues fought for dominance but his sheer skill won out. I closed my eyes and reached up to wrap my arm around his neck, pulling him in deeper.

Slowly, he came out of the kiss but I wasn't done with it quite yet. As quick as a snake, I bit down gently on one of his mandibles and lavished it with my tongue. Thel made a deep growling noise in his throat and in one fluid motion; my dress was shoved down from my chest, exposing the third robe. Thel made a noise of disgust and pulled off the gold one completely.

"Great Forerunners," He mumbled, working at the ties that held my final robe to my body, "How many layers were you wearing?"

"Far too many," whispered, guiding his hand to where the robe was connected to my body. His nimble, skilled fingers removed the knot in about fifteen seconds flat but I was feeling a little mischievous and so I grabbed his waist in between my legs, and using my momentum to catch him off guard, flipped him onto his back so I was straddling his stomach. "Relax, I'm a professional."

He chuckled and reached his hand to cup my face. I took both his hands in mine and closed my eyes as he cupped my cheek, "You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen in my entire existence, Emmaline Jackson."

I laughed slightly and reached down to kiss him, pressing my chest against his, "That's Mrs. Emmaline Vadam, to you."

"Oh yes, how could I forget?" He purred before I kissed.

"Trust me, tonight I will make sure you'll NEVER forget." I kissed him and guided his hands to where the white wrap encircled my body. He slowly, agonizingly, unwrapped the gauze that bound my breasts and I felt my cheeks begin to burn. I reached up slowly and allowed the gauze to fall from my chest and turned my face away, suddenly feeling not as cocky as I once had. However, before I could say anything else, Thel grabbed my chin and pulled my face back to look at him.

"My mate," He said sternly, "Should have no shame for she is the most beautiful being that ever graced the universe."

I felt myself smile slightly at this comment and I watched as his eyes drank in my form. I had never truly been blessed on top but I had something and what I had was obviously enough for Thel. His hands graced my naked sides and gently brushed the underside of my breasts. I moaned on contact and he took this to advantage to again pin me to the ground.

"You dirty dog," I gasped as one of his finger ran over my right nipple, the small bundle of nerves quickly responding to his touch. I moaned and his mandibles splayed into a grin of delight. Suddenly, his hand cupped the breast and I arched my back in surprise and pleasure and gave a little yelp.

"Oh gods! Thel, if you've been practicing this on someone else, I just hope you know that I cannot be held responsible for my actions," I gasped as his tongue went straight to my left nipple, encircling it and grasping the whole breast with his mandibles.

He continued his ministrations with the other one before I finally realized that the best part was yet to come. I grasped at his hips and drove my own into the plating he wore. I knew that my pelvis would be bruised in the morning but it got the reaction I was hoping for. His hand moved from my breast and rolled down my stomach to where I was almost sure he could feel the primal heat radiating through my legs. His fingers continued down until he found what he was looking for and almost made me lose myself then and there. His fingers pushed away the underwear I was wearing and his thumb slid gently over my clit.

I gave a little cry of pleasure and I opened one eye to realize that Thel was still looking at my face, watching to see if I said or did anything.

"Now…I'm almost sure that…you've done this on someone besides me…" I gasped in between little moans as his fingers slipped farther and farther down to where the heat of my being was concealed.

"I've…studied up on the anatomy of females," He admitted, "And I also know if I do this…" Here he slipped one finger into my weeping core and I arched my back even more and gave a little mew, "And this…" He began to move his fingers inside me and I almost died right there. "That I can provide just a little bit of pleasure for a little bit of time."

"Oh gods…Thel…" I mumbled, trying to position myself so that his hand slipped farther into me, to hit that one perfect spot that I knew so well.

And finally, his finger struck it and I cried out so loudly, Thel stopped for a split second before realizing I was yelling in ecstasy.

"Don't stop, please! That's all I beg of you!" I cried as I tried to get his fingers to go faster. Of course, he was only teasing me and wouldn't go any faster than what he felt was necessary and unfortunately, he was only fast in a few places. The battlefield, the bathroom and obviously my twat wasn't one of the places that he felt he needed to be fast in.

However, when he finally hit that spot for the very last time, when he pounded his fingers into me the last time, I felt my sanity shatter and ride up onto the wave of a rather intense orgasm. Finally, one more time, I felt my body spasm and it try and draw Thel in deeper and I felt my sanity shatter as I rode out one of the best orgasms in my life.

When I finally came back down onto the planet, I opened an eye and caught Thel staring at me, a smirk plastered onto his mandibles.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure you haven't used that little tactic before?" I asked in a wavering voice that was meant to sound confident but came out more questioning.

His mandibles splayed in pride as my hands drifted towards his bottom part of his armor, my hands just itching to take it off. My hands drifted over the metal plating and I felt his hands guide me towards where everything met perfectly and I felt the soft skin of something that had barely been displayed to the world.

He was beautiful and he knew that the length of his manhood surprised me. His mandibles splayed slightly and he drew me up into another knee watering kiss. He was truly everything I could ever ask for and more. He was my everything and nothing would ever change this.

He lowered me back down onto the cool blankets, my skin clammy and my body anticipating his every move. We watched each other for a few moments in a comfortable yet tense silence before I broke it.

"I want this to be perfect," I whispered, brining my hand up to caress his bottom right mandible, "I want you to be happy. Is this really what you want?"

His answer was to take me in his arms and hug me tightly to his body, my hot breasts pressing against his terrifyingly cold chest.

"This is more than I could ever want, just here with you," He responded quietly, tangling his mandibles in my hair. I attempted to wrap my legs around his waist to lower myself onto his erect shaft and I heard him chuckle but it was strained. My rocking hips were obviously a distraction to him. Slowly, he allowed my left leg, them my right to slide gently around him and as I allowed my body to swallow him. I arched my back and pressed myself closer to his form, trying to adjust for his size. He was bigger than Tyler by a long shot and I hoped that he wouldn't make me bleed from the inside out. Just having him inside me was an experience all in itself.

"Emmaline…" He grunted, grabbing my hips possessively. I ground my hips into his involuntary and I felt him push back, trying to worm his way in deeper. I gasped and laced my hands behind his neck, feeling my core tighten around him, drawing him in more as if he was the best kept secret on the face of the planet which to me, he really actually sort of was.

I lifted myself off his body slowly and then crashed my hips back his and he grunted in surprise and rocked his hips slowly into mine. I gasped slightly and felt my loins curl in pleasure as our bodies crashed against each other, like waves on the rocks of the ocean, my foundation in a haze of uncertainty. I pounded into him, his body rocking in the motion, meeting me at every thrust, every cry, and every bite of his shoulder.

Through a haze of red, I heard myself screaming out his name and Thel slamming into me crying out my own. His fingers left bruises on my hips but I didn't care. All I cared about was the creature before me, far more of a man than anything I had ever experienced before in my life. I closed my eyes and allowed Thel to take me to the edge of everything I had worked so hard to receive.

My nails bit into his mottled flesh and his mandibles encircled my neck. Our internal tempo built up to where only a night like this could take us. I was truly flying through the galaxies, touching cosmic entities that had never been seen before. He was truly showing me the wonders of the stars.

Suddenly, in one fluid motion, I was pushed back onto the blankets; Thel put his hands above my head and slammed into my cervix. My legs flew around his waist, coaxing him in farther and farther each time he slammed into my body.

I closed my eyes in rapture and finally, I felt my body convulse deliciously, my muscles spasming under his skilled body. I shook as my own apparatus drew him in all the way down to the hilt. His mandibles splayed and he let out a mighty roar as I screamed his name long and loud, throwing my arms up around his neck, drawing him down and kissing him as hard as I could. He still slammed into me as my figure drank him in but finally, with one last thrust, his mandibles splayed and he let out a roar of pure male dominance and I felt him release his seed, my womb drinking it in like it was water for a man in the Sahara desert.

His thrusts slowed and I knew that our bodies were spent. With one fell swoop, he grasped my body and flipped himself to the mattress, allowing me to lie on top of him, my head just brushing his mandibles. Thel then grabbed a blanket from one of the multitudes and laid it on top of us, tangling his mandibles in my hair gently.

"For lack of a better term," Came my quivering voice, "You were bloody brilliant."

He laughed slightly and then touched his fingers to the small of my back, "Do you think our child will ever believe that they were conceived on an alien planet."

I snorted weakly at this, "I don't even know if I'm pregnant or not! Besides, we have to find John."

"Well…there's always tomorrow," I couldn't deny there was a seductive tone in his voice and I laughed softly.

"Unlike Elites, human females need some time to recuperate before they're thrown into any more…strenuous activities, Thel."

He sighed and I curled up closer to him while he wrapped his arms around my waist and for the first time since I had arrived on the planet, I wasn't scared, I wasn't nervous, I wasn't being Dr. Jackson. Now, I was just Emmaline, Emmaline Vadam, the happiest woman in the world.

Slowly, I closed my eyes and allowed the steady beat of Thel's heart to carry me to paradise. If only my dreams would have been so kind.

* * *

_ I opened my eyes and looked down at my current state of wear. I was wearing a rather seductive black getup that looked like it belonged to someone in the Middle East 1,000 years ago. I was also a whole heck of a lot skinner and smaller than I remembered being. Then it dawned on me. I wore this costume when I was a senior in high school to a Halloween party and Tyler had been a rather handsome Arab. At my feet was sand that danced over a landscape of dunes. An unearthly sunrise greeted me in astonishing hues of gold, red, orange and purple._

_ And there, standing at the foot of the sand dune was a rather handsome Arab with a sword at his side and a tiger at his side._

_ "Alas, my beautiful desert rose, why do you turn from memory?" Tyler asked, his voice muffled behind a mask, "I still long for you to embrace you again."_

_ I narrowed my eyes and crossed my hands over my chest, "I'm a married woman now, Tyler. Surely you have to have realized this by now."_

_ I could see his face contort into a sneer and the tiger at his side snarled, "I had heard the rumor and I thought you might have taken my advice and dumped the guy. Of course, you were always stubborn, that's what I liked about you, Em."_

_ "Don't call me Em. You have no right to be here."_

_ He laughed and brushed the tiger's head, "It's a dream, love. Nobody's got a right to be anywhere in this reality."_

_ I made a face and took a step back as he walked up the dune towards me. "You look beautiful; I always thought you did in that costume."_

_ "Bite me," I snarled and with lightning quick speed, he grabbed me by the waist and brought me up to look into his shiny eyes. "Why won't you leave me alone?! You're dead!" I yelled and the last thing I saw before I fell backwards was his hand connecting with the side of my face._

_ I fell backwards and swore loudly as I landed on the sand, "You don't understand, do you?!" He snarled, grabbing my wrist and pulling me up sharply, "There's a massacre coming and you know who will be in charge of it. You know it's true, love."_

_ I didn't even miss a beat, "The Flood. They're coming, aren't they?"_

_ He laughed and dropped me to the ground again, "Of course, Em! I mean, they've been here forever, feeding off of the local wildlife and whatever they could find but when they FINALLY got their act together…when I came into the picture…" His face contorted into something that was between Ty and a nightmare, "Well, let's just say that I wasn't done with you. You realize that the Flood brought you and your crew here, right Em?"_

_ "No…that's impossible we came…Pstana said…" _

_ "That old hag doesn't know anything! We've only been active for the past 1000 years or so! The Flood spores have been in caves all along, waiting for something to come down there and finally…" He raised his hands here in exasperation, "It did."_

_ "How did you get here then?!" I yelled angrily, trying to stand._

_ "You see sweetheart, that's the beauty of it! I'm not really here! My essence is here but I've been gone for a long, long time. I'm still here and as long as you still want me, are thinking about me, I can have access to whatever little part of your brain I want."_

_ "That's not true!" I sputtered, "I'm with Thel now! We're joined we just had…"_

_ "Really, really nice sex? Yeah, I saw that too baby." He smirked and then grabbed me again around the waist, pulling me in for a split second, "And the next time I see you, you'll be doing the same thing with me. I'll wash all traces out of that bastard." His lips were on mine before I could stop him in a bone crushing kiss._

_ I screamed into his mouth and when I did this, he took the opportunity to slip his wet, slimy tongue into my mouth. It curled and twisted around mine and finally bit it but was horrified to realize that it had broken off in my mouth._

_ Resisting the urge to vomit, I spit it out and reared my head back, only to get a glimpse of Tyler's bloody face, the stump that used to be his tongue dancing in and out of his mouth. I spat out his blood and tried to get away but I felt his mouth right by my ear, his hot, rancid breath in my face._

_ "And your little Elite husband is gonna be the first one I slaughter, right in front of you, Princess. Sweet dreams." With that, he shoved me back and I stumbled back into darkness._


	19. Secrets

**Brace yourself. More smut. **

**Queenie**

* * *

When I opened my eyes again, sunlight was streaming through the glass and I was naked. Ah, hell. The blanket that had been covering Thel and I had fallen off and his eyes were open, watching me all the while. His mandibles flared in concern and his hands tightened around my hips.

"Nightmares?" He asked and I winced and shook my head slowly, confirming those dreams. He draped a blanket over my shoulders and wrapped a strong arm around my shoulders, "He's gone, Emmaline. He won't touch you ever again. It's only me."

"No, you're wrong," I snapped, feeling tears prickle my eyes, "They're coming for us; Ty swore you would be the first thing he killed."

He drew away slightly, his grip loosening from my shoulders, "What do you mean?"

"I mean Ty is in some way related to the Flood and he's coming back, he's coming to kill us all and he promised me…" I whipped my head away as tears began to fall down my cheeks. I chewed at my lower lip to keep the rest of the moisture at bay, "He promised me he would kill you in front of me," I closed my eyes in the vain attempt to keep those horrible pictures from my mind. My first dream, the one with Thel and Tyler assaulted my eyelids, "I can't lose you. Not after I just got you."

I felt him shift slightly and come closer to my body, "You won't lose me, not after I just got you, my star."

I felt myself smiling at this and his mandibles gently traced my neck. My tears dried up as he reached for my hand and drew my arm out. I clasped the blanket to my form and blushed slightly when I felt his other hand trace my curves.

"Beautiful," He murmured in my ear and I smiled to myself. His hand drifted down to the edge of the blanket and tugged at it but I didn't submit. I was stronger than that…or at least, I thought it was.

"Shower now, we can continue this later," I laughed and dried my tears with the back of my now free hand. I stood up and winced, knowing that I would probably be sore for a few days down in my pelvic region. However, I knew and Thel knew that last night was definitely worth the discomfort that I was feeling. Nevertheless, he jumped up and helped me stand and the blanket fell enough to expose my breasts and hole where I had been stabbed by the spider. His eyes drifted down to the wound and his mandibles flayed slightly, watching my breath come and leave my body.

His fingers traced the wound and he drew me into his body, his mandibles tangling in my hair, "My brave warrior," He purred, breathing in deeply, "You are my world."

I pulled away and grabbed his hand and placed it on my abdomen. "With any hope, this could be our life, our binding contract." I murmured and he reached down to touch my forehead, our sign for love. I smiled to myself and I felt his hands drift and pull my hips in close.

"Our child," He whispered and I brushed his mandibles with gentle fingertips. He made a purring noise and I reached up and kissed him between the eyes. "Our saving grace."

I laughed softly and felt all my nightmares curl up and die within me. Thel was here and he would be my protector and my child's protector and we would return to Earth and give our baby a safe life, together forever.

"Would you…" I began, "Like to join me in a shower?"

The light in his eyes turned from gentle longing to mischievous lust and he arched an eyebrow ridge.

"Only if you wish to not get very clean," He said and I snorted rather loudly.

"You're not very good at this seduction flirt thing," I said and felt myself being picked up bridal style and being carried towards the bathroom, "Hey! What the hell? I need a shower!" I cried playfully as I dropped to the ground and I saw Thel standing over me, his mandibles splayed in a grin.

"And you will get a shower, but what I lack in this flirting I will make up in…other aspects." He growled seductively and I felt my belly do a flip at these words. I pulled him down to my level and wrapped my leg around his waist.

"I look forward to seeing these other aspects, Mr. Vadam." I growled in his ear and my hand found the button that opened the bathroom and the lights came on instantly. We fell back into the shower and my hand fumbled for the water. Finally, it came on and soaked us both instantly. Thel had me back against a wall and I could see what was in his eyes.

"I do not think you want to see this beast that can be released, Miss Jackson," He snarled playfully as I felt his erection pressed up against my leg. I nearly lost myself there and then with that feeling as he pressed his bare chest into my breasts and slowly moved his hands up my upper thighs before they came to rest on my butt and with a small leap, I wrapped my legs around him and was pressed against the wall, Thel between my legs.

The passion in the room was sending firework through my nerves, every ending was like a light socket! I wondered if he knew what he did to me. All thoughts of soreness from last night disappeared as one hand braced himself against the wall and his body pressed into mine, trying to eliminate all space between us. It was the best feeling in the entire world.

Moisture dripped from the walls as I was let down and nearly fell to the floor, my legs were such jelly. I glanced up to see Thel watching my every move, scrutinizing my every expression of pleasure.

"That's…Mrs. Arbiter…to you…" I gasped and my eyes drifted down. His erection stood full and at attention and finally realizing that I might be in control of the situation for once in my life, I placed one hand on his chest and shoved him back up against a wall. "And I am ready to please my husband."

My hand drifted down and I was pleased to see his eyes watching to where my hand went. Slowly, my right hand closed around his length and I was proud to see the breath hitch in his throat and his mandibles splay slightly.

"Emmaline…" He began but shut right up when my hand moved ever so slightly, getting a better hold on his rather manly manhood.

"Relax," I purred, kissing his perfectly toned chest, "I'm a doctor."

I continued down his body until I was on my knees, thankful that Elites were mostly torso and had legs that were shaped for running. It made my job quite a bit easier.

As I had said before, Sangheli anatomy was different from that of a human male and that went for their reproductive organs as well. While a male human had a smooth shaft, Elites had small bumps and ridges that had made me all that more happy the night before. These held their sperm instead of testicles, like men had on earth. Other than that, most of the rest of their reproductive parts were the same in the sense they actually had a penis.

I took Thel in my mouth slowly and I could tell that he was attempting to keep himself under control, to not jerk his hips forward and slam his entire length into my mouth. I had to be ready for that myself. I felt his member twitch as is passed through my lips and I dipped my head down, taking about half of him in.

I heard him growl possessively and felt his hands grasp my shoulders gently but however gentle those hands were, I could feel the certain bite that was contained behind them. I smiled to myself and drew myself away from his member once again before taking him in my mouth, a little farther this time. I relaxed the back of my throat to allow myself to slide all the way down until I could hold no more. I tasted him now, his thick musk coating my mouth and I moaned softly as I began to pick up my tempo, trying to keep myself from choking.

Finally, Thel couldn't help himself any longer. He bucked his hips forward gently and allowed me to take more in my mouth. From here, I was able to judge what I was doing right. I ran my teeth gently along the bumps and his fingers dug into my shoulder and urged me to go faster.

He was in pure ecstasy and for a moment I laughed at myself. I never imagined that an Elite, a Sangheli would ever have the same needs as a human male, never in the war and definitely never in the eight years I had worked with them. The Arbiter bucked his hips and tried to keep up with my ever changing rhythm. I rolled the head around with my tongue, tasting his unique tang and I closed my eyes as I tried to keep myself from crying out to answer his guttural growls and roars. They were, to put it gently, the most beautiful thing I had ever heard.

Suddenly, my head was thrown back as Thel came more than any other man I had ever seen in my entire life. With a roar, he gripped his length and I saw the silvery semen of my husband drip down from his length to join the gurgling rush of water that cascaded down the sides of the shower. It would have been far more than I could ever swallow and Thel knew that as well and had pulled my head away in the nick of time, before I could choke to death.

I slapped his hand away and replaced it with my own and led him through a rather explosive orgasm. When he was finally finished, gasping nonetheless, (go Emmaline) and opened his eyes, he looked at me and his mandibles splayed into a smile.

"That was glorious," He murmured as I stood shakily on my two legs. However, he didn't look as winded as I thought he might because he grabbed me and pinned me against a wall. "But what I'm going to do to you right now will pleasure us both."

I glanced down to see his erection was once again taking shape. These Elite males would be the death of me and my will of iron. He wrapped my legs once again around his torso and I moaned and pressed into him, trying to eliminate the weeping at my core.

"Please Thel…I need you now…" I whimpered as he ran his length teasingly against my thigh. "Don't tease me anymore. I can't wait for you any longer."

Man, did I sound cheesy or what? However, what Em wanted, Em got and finally, he slid his full length into me, slick with water and semen and it went in easily. I cried out and gripped his back tightly, trying to draw him in deeper. He chuckled deep in his throat and he knew I was at his mercy and even though it wasn't an energy sword he had me at the mercy of, it was sex, I was putty in his hands. I think I screamed out his name as he drove in and out of me, far less gentle than the night before and I felt his teeth nick my neck as he pounded his body against mine, each thrust completing me just a little more. It was pure and utter bliss.

"Thel…Thel…" I whimpered and I felt his hot breath at my ear.

"Scream my name for the world to see. You're mine, Emmaline and there is nothing you can do about it ever again."

My world shattered as he drew out and plunged into me one last time and I threw my head back and screamed HIS name. But it wasn't his name; it was a whole string of a huge swears that shouldn't have come out of my mouth and for the sake of those who don't want to hear all about those words; I'll give you a break.

"THEL!"

I fell against the shower wall, spent and drifted to the floor, the water spattering us as Thel too stumbled to the ground. We sat in silence for a few moments, enjoying the delicious heat of the shower that enveloped us both.

"Well," I said, breaking the silence even though my voice was super shaky, "That was…best shower sex I've ever head. Actually, it was the only shower sex I've had before. Congrats, dear hubby, you're a first for something."

He chuckled and stood to his feet. He helped me up and now, we actually did wash ourselves, all traces of what had happened in the shower was also washed away all traces of what had occurred. We then stepped out of the shower and were surprised and embarrassed to find that someone had made the bed, had set out breakfast and a new set of clothes for me.

"Well that's handy," I joked and we downed breakfast, dressed, and headed back down the elevator and back onto the ground floor hand in hand. The first person to even approach us was Holmes who nodded at both of us and then began speaking.

"Dr. Jackson, we think we've found something," He said excitedly and I arched an eyebrow.

"What's going on, Sir?"

He hesitated and then glanced down at the ground, as if it was more interesting than what he had to say. "The Forerunner scientists believe they had tracked down the exact location of the Master Chief's location. They're sending out teams as we speak."

I stepped forward and chewed on my bottom lip, thinking about Ty's warning. Finally, I looked back at Holmes.

"Why aren't I with them?" I asked and Holmes looked aback.

"Everyone thought you might want to spend your honeymoon in complete and utter seclusion, not looking for the Chief.

I scowled and then let go of Thel's hand. "Take me down to the labs; I can help them until you get me into a group that's leaving. I'm going, of course, don't try and deny me that right."

Holmes hesitated and looked up at Thel. He shrugged and Holmes sighed. "Alright. As soon as I can find an opening, I'll get you and Thel into a team. Of course, Penny's dying to see you and she's down there. She's slotted to go in a group in about two weeks. Do you want to go then?"

I looked up at Thel who nodded his approval, "Yeah that would be great."

He smiled slightly and then pointed towards a smaller building that looked like it was below ground. "The science building is right there. Penny's getting notes on the local flora and fauna and now you're a married woman," He laughed slightly at that, "You might have some time to take notes on the local cultures and such. Victorium wants to speak with you as well and a young Forerunner girl."

"Oh, that must be K'vada," I explained my friend and then bade Thel farewell. He was going to go speak to his brothers about everything that had happened after being glared at by me. I really hoped Elites weren't the type to go around bragging about their sex lives but one couldn't be too certain.

I found Penny and K'vada down in the labs. Penny was documenting some sort of plant and K'vada was talking to her about something. I wasn't sure what but as soon as K'vada saw me, her face broke into a grin and she gave me a giant hug. Penny came over and did the same and whispered, "So, you survived your night."

I shoved her back playfully and grinned, blushing, "Shut up! Have you found the beast's heart yet?"

She chuckled and shook her head, "Not yet but somehow, I have a feeling that my beast isn't any of these Forerunners."

I slugged her playfully on the arm and grinned, "Who knows? Maybe you'll meet the Master Chief and fall madly in love with him!"

She rolled her eyes and snorted, "You mean the unlovable, hardcore, badass that saved all our asses from your dear husband? Yes, that will be the day when he falls in love with the meek, underappreciated scientist. Get real, Jackson."

I smiled and then looked around at the other Forerunner scientists mingling with human researchers. I saw Oster trying to get the attention of a rather handsome Forerunner male but no dice. She then stalked away and halfheartedly scribbled something down in a notebook. Alas, he pretended not to notice her and so she got the stick end of the deal…no alien boyfriend.

Of course, if I had known then what terrible tragedy would befall our new friends and their planet, love would have been the last thing on Rachel's mind.


	20. Pregnant Preparations

My notebook overflowed with loopy handwriting as I slipped off my glasses and rubbed my tired eyes. I had been doing research for almost two weeks. Of course, I had seriously gone bonkers, trying to keep myself occupied. Thel had gone off (several times without me knowing) with groups, looking for the Chief, however we hadn't been lucky enough to find him.

My eyes turned to the door as my dear husband walked through. I arched an eyebrow and he looked back at me.

"And where have you been?" I asked haughtily as he turned from the door towards the bathroom. "You've been gone all day."

"I've been searching for the Spartan," He said simply before pulling off his helmet. I threw my pen down on the bed to join my notebook and stood up, my eyes narrowed. The whole day had been spent talking with Victorium and my brain, not to mention my patience was spent.

"Well could you at least tell me before you leave?" I snapped and he whipped around, his eyes glittering with something I had never seen before.

"I have a life of my own, a life with my brothers, Emmaline. You cannot just burst in and try and take over what I can and cannot do." His eyes softened and his hand touched my head. "Are you feeling alright? You've been acting strange for a few days now."

I pulled away from his hand and scowled, "I'm tired to being cooped up! I want to go find the Chief with you and the Marines and Forerunners."

He arched an eyebrow ridge and then sat down on the bed, motioning me to sit down with him. We had been moved from our bunker room to a somewhat proper bed. It was still simple compared to what I had back on Earth but I couldn't complain too much. It was something.

"I'm tired all the time, Thel," I admitted, "And I'm eating more and I'm having these mood swings like you couldn't even believe…I think…" My gut twisted as I got out the words, "Well what I'm trying to say is I was supposed to start my period last week and it never came. And we had sex and I think…No, I KNOW I'm pregnant."

He was silent for a few moments but then spoke, "How can you be sure? We only had intercourse two weeks ago."

I shrugged and looked down at my abdomen, as if it was swelling right in front of my eyes, "Call it a mother's instinct."

"Did I hear the word baby in here?" Came a familiar voice from the door and Penny walked in, grinning like a loon. "I believe that someone is due at the medical docking station at this very moment?"

I chuckled and then touched my belly, "Penny, I've only been pregnant, even if I am, only two weeks at the most."

She rolled her eyes and then scoffed, "You're a Sangheili researcher! How long does it take for a embryo to develop into a fetus?"

I calculated this on my fingers, "It takes five months for a fetus to develop…"

She laughed and then cocked a hip, "Well, then you're probably thinking to yourself, 'oh, Em, I wonder how long it takes for a cute little Sangheili baby to develop inside me?' And I'm thinking that you're feeling the pressure of pregnancy early, sweetie. That baby's got its momma and its poppa and you know how big those babies will grow."

I touched my stomach and it dawned on me that the baby would grow to be pretty big. Sangheili infants also grew fast and demanded a lot of fat to help them grow. Would my baby make it without being in a Sangheili's womb?

However, then it dawned on me that the baby was half mine too. The baby represented Thel and I as a unit, not as separate cultures. Our future was brewing inside me…or so I hoped.

"Yes, but it's half her child too," Thel pointed out the obvious and also placed a hand over my abdomen, locking mine down against my body. I shivered and he spoke again, "I want her to be examined by a doctor."

"I AM a doctor," I pointed out with a giggle and he looked down at me, bending his elongated neck and looked at me.

"Such matters should be attended to by a medical doctor, Emmaline," He said and I tried to do my best to suppress my grin.

"Okay then, let us commence to the medical docking bay and go!" He let go of my hand and I walked to the door where Penny was still standing. "It's go time, right here and right now."

A Forerunner doctor slid something that resembled an x-ray over my belly, the cold making me wince. He was tall with long light brown hair that was tied back in a long braid that made him really look like the Avatar. The tattoos on my body had faded away but his golden dots and swirls stood out against his rather dark skin. K'vada stood over my body, watching the doctor move the machine up and down across my abdomen.

"What's with you and doctors, K'vada?" I asked and she smiled mischievously at me.

"Just interested in the whole concept of doctors, I guess," She giggled softly and then turned back to Penny who had become her shadow in the past few weeks. It was there I realized K'vada didn't want to be a leader like her mother. She wanted to be a full-fledged Forerunner of science, a girl who wanted to advance the lives of her people.

The doctor placed the machine to the side and then looked over at me and smiled tiredly, "Congratulations, Dr. Jackson. You are going to be the proud mother of twins."

I was shocked! Twins?!

"Do you want to know their genders?" He asked and silently, stupefied, I nodded slowly. He smiled again and then touched my belly gently, "A little boy and girl."

"Well that was…unexpected," I murmured, sliding off the table. I turned to Thel and announced, "Hey, guess what?! We're going to be parents!"

Thel just looked at me like I was crazy and then took a step forward and grabbed me in a hug. This too was unexpected. I knew Elites weren't too crazy about their kids because they usually raised them with uncles, not to interfere with their lives again.

"Guess what? That was really unexpected," I joked and he held me closer, not caring that Penny, K'vada and the doctor were still in the room. All he cared about was our children…our babies who would become a contract that would bond our species together.

"Thank you," He murmured into my hair and I wrapped my arms around his waist.

"For what?"

"For everything you've given me."

"Well…" Penny stated, trying to break what was probably awkward for the trio, "I don't want to keep you guys from spilling out your emotions to each other but Em is needed down at the lab PRONTO. We have some major things to catalogue."

I sobered up, but not before giving Thel a kiss on his nonexistent nose. "Duty calls," I said and he gave me one last squeeze before letting me go, "I'll see you later on tonight."

"I look forward to it," he growled and I gave him a playful shove. He pretended to stumble back and I rolled my eyes and grinned.

"Later."

I bade him goodbye by pressing three fingers to my lips and raising my hand to him as Penny dragged me away, laughing.

"You guys are so stinking cute together," She gushed as we moved around doctors and members of the Forerunner community, "I would have never thought you would be but you tend to prove me wrong quite a bit."

"Nah, just a good looking couple I guess. The alien and his slightly insane doctor wife. I wonder what our kids will look like," I joked and she slugged me playfully on the arm as we boarded the elevator that would take us across and down to the laboratories that spanned beneath the underground.

"They'll be cute, no matter what." She laughed and I blushed slightly.

"Well I'm so glad you're confident about it," I laughed but the laugh died in my throat as we stepped off the elevator and ran face to face with…Hoffman.

She scowled when she saw us but then spoke in a softer voice then I was expecting, "Something's happened and I need you both to come with me."

Penny and I shot each other looks and Hoffman didn't even wait for an answer as she turned on her heel and marched down the hallway, leading us deeper into the building before stopping at a door that was locked. I could tell it was locked by the unmistakable crimson hue that lit up Hoffman's face as she punched in a code. We stepped inside and let our eyes adjust to the dim light and I was surprised to see Holmes and several other high ranking officers in the Marines that had come with us looking very grim.

"Thank you for joining us, Doctors Jackson and Waits," Holmes said and I knew that he was all business today. "Yesterday, we received a distress signal from a group looking for the Chief." He was silent for a moment but then continued, "At 1300 hours, we lost their signal and we believe that the Flood might have gotten them."

A 3-D topographic map popped up with a little bloop close to the river where I had almost drowned. "We lost their signal there, and the last time I spoke to their commanding captain, Sargent Lucas James, they believe they might have found the Master Chief's ship."

A ripple of excitement through the crowd and my stomach did a flip. If we could find him…we could go home and get off this Flood infested godforsaken planet!

"We're sending out a large team," He continued on, ignoring the rippling murmurs, "that will search for the whereabouts of the Master Chief and bring him home. The Flood are moving and so I've asked the council to start gathering supplies to help evacuate the planet."

"Where will they go?" A marine asked and Holmes nodded to me.

"They're coming to earth with us."

A shocked silence met my statement and then cries of anger and disdain.

"They're Forerunners! We can't have another war with aliens!"

"What are you thinking?!"

"Are you mad? They'll enslave the whole human race!"

"Okay, calm down!" Hoffman shouted over the din and nobody messed with the Princess, "I have talked to Pstana and the longest they will stay on earth will be ten years. In that time, they will help us flourish and find new homes for their race to blossom."

The room died down immediately and she sat down next to Holmes. I could see under the table their hands were clasped and she was wearing a rather intricately designed ring.

"When does this team ship out, Sir?" A lone marine asked and Holmes leaned forward to speak quietly.

"We leave tomorrow morning at 0800 hours." He glanced at me and Penny, "You two will be coming with us, of course."

I bowed my head and nodded, "Yes. We would be honored to come with you to find the Chief."

He turned back to the group, "This is go time, people. If we don't find the Chief tomorrow, we're shipping off this hellhole with or without the big guy. I'd prefer with but if it means putting more of my men at risk…" He shook his head and scowled, "I'll take the Spartan's death over the death of my friends. You are dismissed!"

The groups dispersed, whisperings bouncing off the walls like bullets. Penny and I looked at each other and realized that Holmes and Hoffman were watching us, waiting for us to go.

"Oh, sorry," Penny apologized immediately and hurried out of the room but I lingered. I don't know why I did but there was something in both their eyes that startled me ever so slightly. Holmes arched an eyebrow and watched me.

"Is there anything else, Dr. Jackson?" he asked and I felt another blush creep up my cheeks.

"Oh, no, of course not, see you tomorrow at 0800 hours, Sir." I mumbled and hurried out of the room, my cheeks on fire.


	21. Farewells and Forevers

_Holmes grasped Hoffman's hands and looked into her eyes, "Don't go, please Alex. For the love of God, stay here and help the Forerunners get ready to leave."_

_ She squeezed his hands tighter and held them against her chest, "I didn't sign up to be in the marines to stand by and watch a scientist do all the work, Xavier. I'm going, whether you like it or not." _

_ He sighed, brought her hands up to his lips and kissed them fervidly. "I can't live without you and you know as well as I do that there's Flood out there and if anything happened to you, I couldn't live with myself."_

_ She smiled gently at her fiancée and leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lip, "Nothing will happen to either of us. We are both strong willed, capable people and if it means losing a few of them to save you, I'm willing to let them go to ensure that you survive."_

_ He threw down her hands and stood up from his chair, "No Alex, that's wrong. We don't put ourselves first. If push comes to shove, and it came down to you and 25 of my men, I would choose them over you."_

_ She stood up abruptly as well, the chair turning over in her haste, "What are you saying? Are you saying that you would trade my life in for that of a friend, a colleague…HER?!"_

_ He winced when she said 'her.' He knew who she was talking about and he hated to think that she was right. If push did come to shove, he WOULD choose her over 25 of his men. However, he had been trained, he had been CHOSEN to save lives and he knew if he had let her back into his life, that she would create a distraction. However, Holmes always did like to live life on the edge._

_ "No, of course not…"_

_ "Do you not love me?"_

_ "Of course I love you, Alex…"_

_ She had tears in her eyes now, "Then show me you love me, you great dipwad. I love you and I don't understand why you asked me to marry you again if you're not even going to show me you love me. Tomorrow might be the end of the line for both of us and I don't know what I'll think in my last moments when I see that ring around my finger."_

_ She shook her head and tears bubbled to the surface, "You aren't the same Xavier I thought I knew so long ago."_

_ He reached out to her and tried to comfort her but she would have none of it, "I love you more than life itself. I would save you. Why wouldn't you save me?"_

_ He was silent for a moment as he thought. If he admitted that she was right and that he would give his life for her, she would know instantly that he was on the fence about the whole ordeal._

_ Hopefully, that would never happen. He would never have to make that decision and he could live his whole life, guilt free from the idea of choosing his lover over his squadrons._

_ "Alex…" He began, trying to quell the flow of tears, "I don't know what I would do in a situation between my men and you but I do know this," He marched over to her and wrapped his hands around her waist. She didn't resist, "If it was my life on the line, I would lay it down in a heartbeat to know you were safe and sound, even if it meant never seeing you again."_

_ "Oh Xavier…" She murmured and now the tears that came were tears of relief and happiness, "I pray that day never comes."_

_ They met in the middle, sharing a passionate kiss, knowing that they would never have to worry about the other again._

* * *

I groaned and turned over to see Thel watching me.

"I really wish you wouldn't do that," I mumbled, my voice muffled by the pillow, "It's really creepy when I wake up. I feel like you're going to go all psycho on my ass, I kid you not."

"I plan to do no such thing," He admitted, rolling over, "You're beautiful when you sleep."

"You tell me I'm beautiful all the time," I reminded him and stretched, my bones popping. "Do you know what time it is?"

"0700 hours," He said and I rolled over again, grunting as I stretched my muscles.

"Perfect, I have time for a shower," I put my feet on the cold floor and made a face at my reflection.

"We can save resources and shower together," Thel suggested and I snorted and rolled my eyes.

"Fine, but there will be no hanky-panky in this shower. I want to be clean as a whistle when we go out searching today."

"Fair enough," He said as we both stood up and made our way towards the shower.

Fifteen minutes (and some hanky-panky) later, I was pulling on a plain white tee shirt, and a pair of cargo pants. I laced up my boots and helped Thel into his armor.

"You look better than you usually do today," I teased him, running my shirttail against his torso's plating until it sparkled and gleamed, "Maybe it's sleeping next to a beauty such as my glorious self."

He was silent for a moment before speaking, "I don't think you should be doing this."

"Oh relax," I said, pulling my hair into a ponytail, "I'm only two weeks pregnant. Nothing's going to happen, trust me. I have a feeling about these things. Like the pregnancy thing? I hit that one right on the nose."

Thel groaned and rolled his eyes before we stepped out to join our squadron of 60 marines, 20 Forerunners and two other Elites besides Thel. When Holmes was satisfied with our ragtag group, we boarded the hovercraft that would take us to the Chief's location and Penny and I glanced giddily at each other. I think she also had a good feeling about today.

The ride was unbelievably fast but was spent in mostly silence. We had to be on our toes today. If we ran into Flood, that would be the end of all of us…and the Chief for we were his last hope of being found. A flutter of nervousness coursed through my belly and I gripped the handle of my gun a little tighter.

I shot a quick sideways glance at Thel who caught me looking. His mandibles splayed into a little half smile and I smiled quickly back and looked forward again.

After a ride that seemed to last a lifetime, the hovercraft was lowered and we were allowed off. The low rumble of the river shook me at my very core and I winced, thinking about what had drove me into that river to begin with. I wouldn't make that mistake twice.

The jungle was also quieter, as if it was holding its breath against an unwanted intruder. A rather brash, young marine named Paulson stepped in front of me and almost smacked me with the butt of his gun!

"Hey watch it!" I hissed and he glanced back at me and gave me a nasty sneer. I decided instantly I didn't like the guy.

"Why don't you stand back and let us real soldiers do the work, Dr. Jackson?" He said smugly but I decided to be the bigger person and not answer him.

"Okay, here's the coordinates of James' last sent message…But there's nothing here." Holmes murmured and knelt down to look at the ground. It had rained the night before so most traces were gone but a few telltale blood spatters and green blood was found. He stood back up and glanced at Penny and me.

"Okay, Dr. Jackson, I believe that you have the coordinates in your data pad on where to go," he said hurriedly and I nodded and brought out my little flat screen. The map came up and I traced my finger along the map, looking at where we might possibly go.

"Well, it says that we continue for about another 200 feet due west we can…"

"Look, Sargent Major, no offense to you of course," There was that annoying voice again. Paulson, of course, "But she's a cultural scientist! Does she even know how to read a map?!"

"I am rather confident in her map reading skills, Mr. Paulson. If you question my scientist again, I will demote you here and now."

He scowled and I did my best to look professional. However, inside, I was jumping for joy! Emmaline: 1. Stupid ugly Marine nobody likes: 0. Take a look at THOSE odds, Mr. Paulson!

As I was saying before I was so RUDELY interrupted," I continued, "If we go 200 feet west, we're going to find a marker that was placed by James' company. From there, it's another half mile northeast to where the Chief's ship went down."

"How did James get those coordinates?" Penny asked Holmes but he just shrugged.

"My thoughts are that they were coming back to the ship and they were attacked by the Flood. Not even God can help them now."

Suddenly, a noise behind me caused me to drop the data pad and place a hand on my gun, "Holmes?" I snapped urgently, "I don't think we're alone here."

At that moment, all Hell broke loose and Flood of all shapes and sizes poured down on us from the treetops, ready to make known the promises that they had been so keen on keeping in my dreams.


	22. Penny and John

_Penny Waits wasn't much of a fighter._

_ However, she was a runner and that suited her just fine. She grabbed her gun and looked to see where their enemy was and fired a few shots into the fray. She wasn't a good shot by any means and she was afraid that she might have hit one of her own men. The ground was becoming red and green as before Penny's eyes, men and Forerunners were being transformed into something that scared her more than ever had._

_ She had never seen a Flood spore up close and she doubted she would ever want to see one up close again. She could see the rotten flesh and the heads of what were once marines hanging at precarious angles, their arms replaced by with waving tentacles and the stench…oh the stench almost knocked her off her feet. It was beyond disgusting, a combination between rancid meat, a dump and other terrible smells. Penny was nearly knocked off her feet as she heard her friend scream._

_ "Em!" She cried out but this caught the attention of a newly formed Forerunner Flood. It ran at her and she screamed as she backed away from the clearing, shooting the thing as it ran at her. Her hands shook with every shot and every shot brought another jolt to her body._

_ When the Flood finally fell, she turned her attention back towards the creepy little Flood spores that moved over the ground towards their next victim…Penny!_

_ She howled in disgust and fear and shot at them, trying to keep them at bay. They exploded as her bullets met their marks but she still stumbled back, hand fumbling at her belt for another clip of ammo. She found none and silently cursed herself for being so arrogant, thinking she would never need another clip. She would never be attacked by anything. Yeah, right._

_ However, as she tripped on a raised root, she found her saving grace. Her hand closed around a discarded weapon and she brought it up in the nick of time, firing into the gaggle of Flood spores that still stalked her. They exploded with a POP and she then shot the stragglers, only then realizing that her hand was on the data pad. She grabbed it and then stood up, trying to find Em._

_ However, before she could accomplish this, she felt something connect with her jaw with a sickening CRACK and stars danced before her eyes. She realized that a Flood creature had got her with its tentacles after it had been shot down by someone._

_ Penny tried to get her bearings but couldn't due to the fact that her world was still spinning around and around. She backed up into a tree and clung onto it for dear life as her world came back into focus. She tried to ignore the fact that every time she moved her tongue even a little bit, pain shot through her entire mouth. She whimpered but managed to keep her mouth shut as the fight raged on around her._

_ This attacking force was small but its numbers were growing as the green little embryos attached themselves to the spinal cords of their team members, creating them into more foot soldiers. Penny didn't see Em in the throng and a wave of terror went through her. What if Em had been changed into a Flood creature?! A wave of nausea swept over the scientist as she realized what she would have to do to keep those who had been attacked down. She raised the gun and fired it into the head of a marine who was being taken over, his screams of pure agony turning into gurgling as the Flood spore died along with him._

_ Penny was a runner, not a fighter. With the data pad held tightly under one arm, she ran, never stopping once to look back at the battle that might have taken her best friend. Nobody followed her. Nobody even cared._

_ Tears blurred her vision as she ran, and only the rapid beating of her own heart filled her ears. She slammed through bushes and plowed through leaves. She was running like she had never run in her entire life. Not even in college had she run like this. However, she never had an incentive this enticing._

_ Stay alive._

_ Only when she was sure that they weren't following her did she stop. Her whole body was trembling and she stopped only to allow herself to vomit up her breakfast, sobbing all the while. She couldn't go back, not after what had happened and if she didn't keep moving, they would find her, one way or another._

_ She collapsed to the ground, her chest heaving and her mouth tasting of bile, sweat and blood. Tears still filled her vision and she realized that the Flood that had beaned her in the mouth had knocked a few teeth loose, mostly back molars but still, they were HER teeth. She groaned and closed her eyes, trying to stop the spinning of her head. She was sweaty, filthy and weak. She was easy pickings for even the most weak of creatures and she knew if she was out here long enough, she would be picked off._

_ She brought the data pad up to her face and winced. It felt like a thousand pounds in her hands and she nearly wept as she opened her mouth slightly to ponder the map. According to this, the ship of the Master Chief was about 150 feet to her left._

_ Wincing, she sat up and looked around but saw no telltale sign of a UNSC ship. She pursed her lips without thinking about it and grunted as her mouth contorted. She stood up on foal legs and shivered as a breeze played with her messy, sweaty, disgusting hair. Penny, holding up the data pad, began to make her way towards where apparently the Chief's ship went down slowly, carefully in case there was more Flood, waiting to pounce on her._

_ She meandered over the 150 feet and frowned slightly as she looked over the map again. There was no ship here, just a few oddly shaped hills and…_

_ A grin broke over the scientist's face. Oddly shaped hills were a good sign and she walked with more of a purpose, sliding the data pad into her pocket and instead cocking her gun and holding to down to her side._

_ She approached the first hill and found nothing interesting. The hills were mostly identical, grass and vines draping over the hill as if to hide something…_

_ Hide something…_

_ Penny stepped up onto the hill and searched for a cave, an indent, a place where grass didn't grow, anything out of the ordinary for a large mound of dirt._

_ She brushed away a vine but found nothing of interest. She scanned the whole hill, occasionally looking back to make sure the Flood weren't stalking her. When she was convinced the hill was nothing of importance, she slid down the mound and moved onto the next one. A flutter of excitement filled her belly. This one was fare stranger looking than the other one and this one…it had a piece of metal sticking out of the ground._

_ Yes, this was the ship. This is why nobody had found it! It had been buried under a mudslide or an earthquake or…something. Penny's mind whirred with possible ways to free the Master Chief from his tomb but couldn't think of how to do it._

_ Finally, after much thought, she decided she had a plan. She knew, as well as anyone, that the ship The Forward unto Dawn had been sliced in half and the Chief's half had been floating in space and had landed on a planet…nobody would ever guess that it was this one._

_ She picked up a stick and began to thrust it into the hill. Each time she did so; the stick sunk through the loosely packed dirt and hit something solid underneath with a metallic THUNK. She knew after the first few strikes that she was indeed look at the hull of The Forward unto Dawn._

_ She moved slowly around the base of the hill, each time striking the hill with a hearty prod of the stick until finally, the stick slid farther into the dirt than it had before until it was stuck in the hill altogether. A slow smile crossed her face as she realized that she was looking at the entrance of the ship. Now the question was getting through to the Chief._

_ She crawled up the steep hill and a thought came to her. There was no way she could penetrate the dirt from the bottom because the dirt was thickest there. However, the dirt was thinnest on the top and she knew that if she was diligent enough, she could break through and rescue him._

_Penny gripped the stick in her hand and began to poke through the dirt at the top. The ship, she realized, hadn't been sliced perfectly in half. It was more…at an angle and the stick went through easily._

_ Excited, she threw the stick away and began to claw at the dirt with her bare hands, dirt getting stuck under her nails and her back growing increasingly achy and sore. However, the thought that she would finally rescue the Chief was enough to deter her from these thoughts. Penny Waits would be the one remembered for finding John-117._

_ Finally, after about fifteen minutes of feverish digging, her hand shoved through the dirt and she almost fell forwards into the belly of the ship. She caught herself in time and pulled her hand back out. She had found it._

_ Using both her feet, she managed to knock away the dirt into a Penny shaped hole and slowly wriggled into the ship, both feet landing on the ground with a metallic THUMP. She winced slightly on impact but shook off the shock quickly. The interior was dark, hot and unbearably muggy and she fumbled for a light in her pocket, thankful that she was a woman who brought a light with her everywhere she went. The flashlight illuminated the space and Penny glanced back to see the wall of dirt that separated her from the outside world. She would cross that bridge when she came to it. For now, all thoughts were on the Chief._

_ She turned back to the interior of the ship, and her heart stopped when she saw the only closed Cryo container. It HAD to be him._

_ She moved towards the container but a blue light that illuminated the whole ship made Penny stop and almost wet her pants. She whipped her head around to look at the pedestal that she had missed before. How could one miss something so big?!_

_ On it was a rather pretty AI with short purple hair who had lines of data moving up her body. She looked forlorn, like she had bad news. She looked up but she didn't look right at Penny but more out to the wall._

_ "Transmission date: Unknown. Location: Unknown." She spoke and Penny was surprised to hear such a rich voice from such a saddened AI, "AI serial code CTN 0452-9, alternate name Cortana. This is my last attempt to reach Earth and so if you are hearing this, we are still here. I am running close to the end of my life and I know when this message is over, my service will be as well. The Master Chief and I are still in orbit around an unknown planet. I know that I have fallen in rampancy so I know I will not be found, if we are ever found, when John is. Please help us. This is AI CTN 0452-9 bidding her final farewell to whoever may find this message."_

_ The interior went dark again and Penny was left in shocked stupor. This AI had been spoken of highly and Penny wished that she could have met her. However, at the moment, there were bigger fish to fry. She approached the Cryo chamber carefully and shined her light into the interior._

_ Her heart almost stopped._

_ There he was a sleeping giant that Penny was keen on awakening. She knew how to deactivate a Cryo chamber by hand and now she did so, her dirt caked hands moving as gently as butterflies over the controls that confined the Chief._

_ After a few moments of silence, she heard the gentle hiss of the chamber opening and her heart gave a leap. She had done it and it was only a matter of time before he woke up. However, she knew that there was several things she needed to do before he came to and one of those things was to make sure that he was still alive and he didn't have considerable freezer burn. She couldn't imagine 5 years in a Cryo chamber, let alone 500 and so she rushed to the Chief's side._

_ "Okay Big Guy, let's check out that pulse," She murmured, moving to the front of the Chief. He was as frightening as she ever had imagined. Her flashlight reflected light off his visor and she could see her scared, dirty, sweaty face. Her red hair had frizzed considerably in the heat and humidity and she wished in the back of her mind the Chief could see a beautiful version of her than a dirty and scared one. _

_ His dark green armor held a dim luster in the beam of light as she reached forward, her fingers gracing his strong, powerful neck to find a pressure point and yes…there it was a strong, beating pulse that made Penny smile slightly._

_ However, this light touch also surprised the other individual that had been in a chemical induced sleep and now was rather disoriented. Master Chief otherwise known as John-117 brought up a hand grabbed Penny's digits so hard that she gasped and knew that one of her fingers might have been broken, and then grabbed at her throat before standing up and slamming her against the wall of the ship._

_ "Who are you?" Came the emotionless voice that would have been far sexier if its owner didn't have his strong hand crushing Penny's windpipe. _

_ "Please..." She squeaked out but this only resulted black spots do dance in front of her eyes, "Dr…Penny…"_

_ She was almost sure he would crush her and her windpipe but she found herself sucking in lungful's of moist warm air. From here, she could see the giant outline that was Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 watching her, waiting for the explanation._

_ After she had gotten enough air back into her lungs, she began to speak, trying not to open her mouth too wide._

_ "Master Chief, my name is Dr. Patricia Waits and we have been looking for you for about a month now. Your AI, Cortana, sent out a distress signal and we received it…and came looking."_

_ She explained the events up until that point and even put in some of the details about how Emmaline and Thel had gotten married which got nothing from the Chief. He was emotionless as she imagined him to be and was silent._

_ "And now," She concluded, "We're stuck behind a wall of dirt because I jumped through that hole up there," She pointed up and was glad to see the Chief's visor turn somewhere besides her face for once. "If you have any ideas of trying to get out of here, I would absolutely love to hear them, by the way."_

_ He didn't say a thing but picked up the assault rifle that was lying haphazardly in a corner and turned on the flashlights on his helmet._

_ "Hang onto me," Was his simple explanation and turned around to allow Penny to grab onto his waist. She did so, marveling the rippling muscles she felt under the thick material that surrounded his joints._

_ "What are you…WHOA!" She yelped as the Chief jumped straight through the hole that she had created and onto the hillside that abruptly began to collapse as soon as all seven feet and three inches of the Chief were on the loosely packed dirt. A great rumbling filled her ears as another landslide, this time mud falling away from the hull of the ship, ensued._

_ John was faster than she had expected because they had managed to keep one step ahead of the collapsing ground and now she could see the gaping serrated maw-like half of the ship as they landed safely on the ground._

_ Neither of them spoke for a few moments but the hair on the back of Penny's neck began to prickle, like something was watching them._

_ That's when she realized John had taken a step forward and had his gun pressed right up against the belly of the Arbiter._

_ "You," Was the only thing he said, never taking his gun away for a second. The Arbiter scoffed and his mandibles splayed slightly. Penny could tell that he was worried about something._

_ "I thought we had left all this behind us," he said sarcastically and then looked behind John to see Penny, "Emmaline's in trouble."_

_ "What kind of trouble?" She asked as John slowly removed the front of his gun from her best friend's mate._

_ She could tell he was worried about her and she again wondered if her friend had been turned into a Flood creature._

_ "She managed to get away from the fight," He explained, "However; I think something might have happened to her because I thought she would be here with you. I also saw her tracker stop for about ten minutes and then begin to move again. There is something going on."_

_ "You don't think…" Penny began but couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence._

_ "I do not think she is a Flood. If she was, she would have been smart and ripped out the tracker. No, I think she's being held as a prisoner."_

_ "But why would the Flood want a human as a prisoner when it's easier to turn them into a Flood creature."_

_ John interrupted our conversation, "Because somewhere on this planet is a Gravemind. It's been haunting my dreams since I came to this planet, looking for your doctor."_

_ Penny whipped around to look at John and her face paled, "You don't think…"_

_ The Arbiter was grim as he activated his energy sword, his armor glinting in the sun that moved across the sky, "We don't have much time." He turned back to the Master Chief and watched him without emotion, "Will you help us? I cannot save Emmaline by myself."_

_ He was quiet for a moment and then he nodded, "Yes, I will help you."_

_ Penny watched something pass between the two males, something she didn't fully understand but realized that they now had a Spartan with them. With luck, they would find her best friend alive._


	23. Friends in All The Wrong Places

I screamed as the first Flood spore landed on my back and went straight for my spinal column. I managed to knock it off but was almost thrown back as another Infected Forerunner crashed into me, sending me reeling back. I saw Paulson screaming like a chicken with its head cut off as a spore attached to his spinal column. Inside I was screaming in fear, but now, I only focused on one thing, where Thel was. I fired into the gullet of a rather large creature and it was only my training with Thel that kept me from getting crushed by the falling body. I dropped the data pad and swore as I tried to retrieve it, but was forced to move.

I rolled out of the way to avoid the thrashing body of a marine, his body twisting and contorting as he was replaced by a Flood imposter. I knew what I had to do. I had seen the Flood and I had heard stories and I knew there was only one way to destroy them. I raised the gun up to the marine's head and fired one bullet into his head.

I saw his eyes fill with shock only for a split second before he was killed, the Flood along with him. I turned my attention back to the fighting and shot several spores before unclipping another clip from my belt and shoving it into my magnum before shooting a spore that had gotten too close for comfort. I could see Penny stumbling, her hands closing around a pistol and firing it into the belly of a spore.

"That's my girl," I thought to myself as I fired another round into a spore, causing it to explode. However, there was something I didn't expect. I could see my favorite Sargent, Miss Alexandria Hoffman running from the battle! That was something one didn't see every day. I was confused because I could still see Holmes fighting and I knew that the duo wouldn't be seen without the other.

However, at that moment, I felt something slimy grasp my wrist and I whipped my head back to see that a Flood creature had wrapped its slimy hand around my entire forearm and was refusing to let go!

A gurgled shriek grew in my throat as I raised the gun up and fired at the once Marine several times before his grip loosened and I was left with a rather slimy wrist. I wiped it off on my tee shirt and swore under my breath as the bullets ricochet around me, dropping low to avoid Holmes firing straight through my head. However, it seemed whenever a Flood creature got near me, it would slow down, not to charging speed and try and wrap its tentacles around any part of my body it could reach.

"What in the world…" I muttered, firing another round into the head of a Forerunner who had gotten too close. However, unfortunately, I couldn't let Hoffman get away with this and so, unloading the rest of my ammo on an unsuspecting group of Flood spores, I took off after Hoffman who was probably a good 200 feet ahead of me.

She tore through vines like they were nothing but, unlike me, she wore heavy plating to keep her safe and so I was far quicker than she was. I jumped at her and knocked her off her feet. She swore as she crashed to the forest floor, biting her tongue in the process.

"What the hell is your problem, Jackson?!" She yelled and kicked me in the chest. Hard. I rolled over and clutched my chest. "You don't just come up and tackle people!"

"You were…you were…" I couldn't finish my sentence, my chest hurt so badly. "Ugh…running away…"

She spat a loogie and I was pleased to see that it was mostly blood, "That doesn't give you an excuse to tackle people! I had a reason for running."

My chest had receded to a dull throbbing now and I was able to take a breath without bursting into tears, "Why were you…" Okay, maybe it wasn't all back to normal.

She narrowed her eye, glaring at me all the while, "Why should you care, Jackson? So you can report me to Holmes?"

"That was the…oh, why did you have to kick me?" I muttered, trying to sit up but failing miserably, "If you broke my ribs I swear to God…"

"You'll do what?" She bared her teeth, showing her bloodied mouth, "We're all alone, Jackson and it's only a matter of time before the Flood come after us too. They were looking for something…for someone."

My stomach did a turn and I felt myself pale considerably, "W-what do you mean someone?"

She narrowed her eyes more if that was possible and hocked another wad of spit and blood, "I saw the way they were approaching you. They didn't want you dead; they wanted you alive because I've never seen a Flood act like that in my whole life. Why the hell would they want you alive, Jackson?"

"I…I don't…" I groaned but then heard a familiar roar of something that wasn't human bouncing over the trees.

"Well," She stated, "It sounds like the matinee is over and done with and you weren't there. Now they're going to be looking for that midnight movie and guess what Miss Em? That's you so if you don't want to be Flood food, or whatever they want you for, I think it's best if we pack up and get the HELL out of here."

She grabbed my hand and tried to pull me up but my chest was on fire and I could barely move without moaning.

"You broke them, dumbass," I scowled, "Good luck trying to get me to move."

"Well, better you being in pain than me being dead. Be glad I'm not leaving you here for dead, Jackson." She snapped, hauled me up and wrapped one arm around my waist and slung my other arm over her shoulders, grunting. "Why the hell couldn't I have been one of those fucking Spartans?" I heard her mutter and I laughed a little inside. The idea of Hoffman being a Spartan was laughable because they would never run away from a battle. I decided not to answer this but was able to get my feet back underneath me.

"Come on," She urged, starting to walk. I hissed in pain and she rolled her eyes. "Can you at least suck it up?"

"You broke my fucking ribs! I'm not going anywhere quickly!" I snapped angrily and I felt myself being adjusted at her hip to keep from falling.

"Just shut up and help me walk," She grunted as we began to move along at a painfully slow rate. However, I wasn't really paying attention to how slow we were going but how close the Flood was getting. I helped Hoffman hobble through the forest in silence until I broke it when I couldn't hear the Flood coming after us anymore.

"Why do you hate me?" I asked and she glanced down at me, her face covered in sweat.

"Well, I can give you several reasons," She began, "For one; I think you're obnoxious and arrogant. You think you're better than you are."

That felt like a punch to the stomach. Sure, maybe I was a little just a little over confident, but so was the rest of the freaking human race! However, I stayed silent and waited for her to continue. She did so with a certain hesitation in her voice.

"You were someone who caught the eye of the Arbiter," She went on, "It made even so slightly…jealous. I thought that I would be the one to save humanity and then when the Arbiter said he wanted you, how could I compete? You were the one who spoke his language, who had made eye contact that day on Earth…Gosh, you just BEGGING for me to slug you in the face."

"But you had Holmes," I pointed out. Big mistake.

She threatened to drop me and I let out a soft cry, biting the inside of my cheek in the process, "Holmes and I have history, Jackson. We were going to get married about five years ago and…" She barked out a horse laugh, "He cheated on me with some stupid civilian and the kicker was she looked a lot like you! Maybe that's another reason I hate your guts so much."

"You can't hate someone because they look like someone else," I pointed out and she just chuckled bitterly.

"Actually, you can, it's rather easy." She was quiet for a moment before speaking again, "I never hurt people for a reason but for some reason, you just seemed like someone who needed to be brought down off their cloud. I'm sorry that somebody couldn't do it before I did but…I know we can all have our streaks of cockiness."

"I would have preferred a stern fax or phone call," I joked and she turned to me and something graced across her face that I had never seen before. Hoffman actually smiled at me! It was only for a brief second but it was definitely a smile.

"But punches seem to get the message across," She said and I chuckled, wincing as I did so. We fell into a comfortable silence, trying to get away from the Flood as soon as possible until I asked the question that had been on my mind.

"Why did you run away from the fight?" I asked and a storm cloud crossed her face.

"Because I'm a coward, Jackson. I first saw the Flood in pictures and they scared me. I couldn't fight them, I had to go. I thought of only myself and Holmes…" She turned her face away but I could see the solitary tear that trickled down her bloodstained cheek, "He knows how to get himself out of those situations. I'm not strong enough and he's probably dead because of me."

I couldn't think of anything to say and just…nodded. Thel too was back in the fray and I felt my stomach churn. He wasn't immune to the spores; Sangheili could be infected as well. I wish I could go back but I couldn't…my new friend Alexandria made sure of that little detail.

We continued on in silence alongside a cliff that would take us…well, it would take us away from the Flood. Hoffman touched the COM-link in her pocket with the hand that wasn't supporting me and then turned to speak, continuing to walk. "As soon as we're away from the Flood, I'll contact the Forerunners and the Marines and…"

However, she was never able to finish that sentence because at that moment, her foot caught on a rock and Alexandria Hoffman lost her balance and tumbled over the cliff, grabbing onto me with a death grip.

My hands fumbled for something grab onto but only found the ragged sides of the cliff. My fingernails were ripped off in one giant CRACK and the pain from my ribs was numbed by the pure adrenaline that coursed through my body. Suddenly, my hand wrapped around a vine and I thought my arm would be ripped out of its socket. On a whim, my other hand shot down and I grabbed the still screaming Hoffman as tightly as I dared. My ribs gave another sharp jerk and this one was almost bad enough to make me black out.

My arms were stretched and I felt my palms instantly start sweating. "HOFFMAN!" I screamed over her own yelling and crying, "I need you to help me here."

"Oh my gosh, Jackson we are going to die!" She sobbed and I tried to keep my cool, even with a throbbing chest.

"We aren't going to die," I promised her but no sooner had I spoken, I felt the vine give a hard jerk in my hands. I looked up to see the vine beginning to fray near my hand and I felt my stomach lurch. "However, I need you to call for evac as soon as you can reach your pockets." I tried to keep my cool but I couldn't keep the tremor out of my voice. I felt her eyes drift up to the vine that wouldn't hold us much longer and I felt her hand start to shake.

"It's not going to hold us both," I heard her murmur, and at that moment, I looked down and I saw her eyes fill with tears, "It's not going to hold us both," She repeated, louder this time. "Jackson, let me go."

"Are you out of your mind?!" I demanded, "There is no way in HELL I'm letting you go!"

Her face broke into a sad smile and she took a shaky breath, "Xavier deserves a girl that is brave and smart…someone like you and I hope he finds her."

I shook my head, tears filling up my eyes, "No, if you fall, I'm coming with you."

Her hand went slack and I grabbed it before she could let go, "Emmaline, I'm…I'm sorry for being a bitch to you…Tell Xavier that I love him and that…"

I was crying now, tears bubbling over my lashes and splashing down onto my ripped, sweaty, dirty shirt. My ribs were screaming with strain but I couldn't let her go. "NO! You have to call them, you have to tell them…"

"No, I can't, I know this is my time…you have so much to live for. You have a husband and children to look forward to…no, I'm done. I'm finished." She looked up at me and I could see pure and utter terror in her eyes. She didn't want to die but…

I felt her slipping and tried to hold on but I couldn't. She was too heavy and my ribs…I was going to give out at any second…

She dropped.

I couldn't stop myself. She finally just let herself go and I found myself screaming her name as she fell, watching me the whole way down until I saw her body disappear into the trees and away from view. Tears blurred my vision as my other hand snapped up to join my first on the vine. I wept for Alex then, wondering if I would share the same fate as her because I had no idea if I started climbing if the vine would hold and I had no way of finding where the heck Thel was.

I didn't know how long I hung there but the only thing that pulled me out of my stupor was the gentle wind that was blowing my hair out of its ponytail, rocking me back and forth. Every movement made my ribs scream in agony and I winced as I moved for the first time in what seemed like forever.

I opened my eyes, still puffy and red with tears unshed and slowly moved my hands, scooting my body up the vine. It creaked precariously under me and I had to stop several times, fearing that it might fall underneath me. My raw, bloodied hands screamed in agony as I pulled myself up slowly, one little bit at a time until I had made it past the part of the vine that had been tearing. I glanced up, wincing in the bright sunlight. The vine was only another 20 feet and was attached to the cliff side. I wondered if Thel, Penny and Holmes had gotten away but in the back of my mind, I had the dreaded fear that they had been turned into Flood soldiers.

Placing this in the back of my mind, I continued to climb, stopping every so often to rest my hands, which were growing increasingly sore. The remainders of my nails still bled every time my hands moved and blood dripped down my arms.

Groaning, I continued up, ignoring the agony I was experiencing until I was 10 feet…5 feet…And then I was gripping the edge with my ruined hands and hauling myself over. As soon as I was up, I retched up everything in my belly, all the thoughts, all the pictures of my friends being turned into Flood creatures…Hoffman's death…

I began crying again, trying to erase the images that wouldn't come out. I vomited again but this time, it was just acid and bile and every time I coughed, I would begin crying again. I needed to get out of there, I needed to go far away…but I had no way of getting of finding anyone. I was, to put it gently, lost, scared and in pain beyond anything else. I fell over on my knees, and tried to breathe but breathing required working ribs and I sort of lacked several of those. I then turned over to my back and tried to breathe, wincing every time I sucked in a painful breath.

Closing my eyes, I tried to control my racing heart but every time I attempted to get my heart back under control the images of Hoffman ripped through my memory. I whimpered and tried to stand up on shaky legs but found them burning painfully. Even the littlest, weakest carnivore could pick me off now.

However, my little weak predator didn't show up.

They came crashing through the trees and the animals of the planet knew to stay far out of their way. Waving their tentacles around in erratic, jumpy movements, they came at me and I couldn't do as much as put my arm up to protect my head.

They made a circle around me, not attacking. Even the Flood spores watched me, their feelers tasting my fear that pulsed through the air. I pulled myself into a ball and one of them screamed and all Hell broke loose.

They came at me, their horrible bodies crushing the air out of me, my ribs pressed into my lungs. I attempted to breathe but everything was gone.

Then I felt a foot in my abdomen and my heart fell as all the breath that was received before left my body. My babies…Thel's babies…Oh gods…

"No…" I croaked but nobody heard me as they descended on their prey. A pain to add to my broken ribs emitted from my stomach and I felt myself cough. However, it was when a hand clenched in a fist made contact with my head that everything went to Hell in a hand basket.

Starbursts filled my vision and I groaned as slowly everything began going black. The last thing I knew was that a Flood creature had hoisted my limp body above the ground and now were carrying me to an unknown location…


	24. Tyler and the Gravemind

_I opened my eyes and found myself on a cold wooden floor, my head throbbing like a son of a…well, you get the idea. I moaned and tried to pull my deadweight body up to a sitting position and I found myself in a pure white dress. However, it wasn't just any dress, it was a wedding dress._

_ I made a noise of disgust and tried to pull the dress away but it was like tearing off my own skin. I moaned in discomfort but then got a look at my surroundings. I was in a hallway of what looked like an old Gothic mansion that I toured in the 8th grade. From that point on, I had fallen in love with the house and I wanted one just like it when I had grown up. Of course, that never became a reality due to the fact that I never was in a place that was big enough to build one, nor did I have the money._

_ The hallway was lined with bookshelves and old grandfather clocks, each one pointing to a different time. Closed doorways were in places that giant tomes with nonsensical titles lay and I heard whispering behind them. Not that I wanted to get any closer, of course. My eyes turned from the closed doorways to a room that flickered with what looked like firelight._

_ I stood up slowly, all pain from my body gone. The wedding dress rustled as I moved and moved I did. I quietly made my way down the hallway, keeping away from the murmuring rooms and I felt my bare feet silently touching the floor, never making a sound. _

_ I peered into the room and was greeted with a gentle warmth that I hadn't experienced in a very long time from the warm fire that crackled merrily in the hearth. A bunch of throw pillows had been thrown haphazardly in front of the fire along with a bottle of what appeared to be Merlot, two wine glasses and rose petals everywhere._

_ What the bloody hell was happening?_

_ I walked into the room and was shocked to see the walls strewn with clocks, each one ticking maddeningly loud. I winced and covered my ears in the vain attempt to keep out the loud cacophony of clicks and chimes. No matter how hard I tried to keep the noise from my head, it would only become louder until I was forced to scream to keep myself sane. However, once that noise died out of my throat, I heard another noise from behind me. It was laughter._

_ I whipped my head around to see the curly haired, green eyed, plump lipped, handsome son of a bitch who had been the pain in my side for far too long. He was leaning up against the door, hands in the pockets of his favorite pair of jeans._

_ "Tyler," I snarled and took a step back, only to fall onto a couch that hadn't been there a second ago, "What is this? I'm not sleeping."_

_ "No, you aren't," He said, stepping over to the Merlot, "Actually, we're in my mind now. Sorry to bring you here so ruthlessly but unfortunately, the Flood really have no control of what they do and don't do."_

_ "They killed my friends," I snapped as he watched the blood red liquid fill up the glass._

_ "Not only that, but they killed your children."_

_ My blood turned to ice, "No…That can't be possible…" I gasped and touched my suspiciously flat abdomen, "You…you BASTARD!"_

_ He shrugged, acting as if he had just given me the weather forecast instead of the death of my babies, "Yup, that's me."_

_ "How could you?"_

_ He moved his arm and watched the wine turn into a twister and then downed the whole thing in one gulp. Ty threw the glass into the fireplace where it shattered and the flames licked up the alcohol that still clung to the glass like droplets of blood._

_ "You needed to be pure," He explained, "I mean; could you imagine your children's essence in the Gravemind? It would be unspeakable, my dear."_

_ My stomach flip-flopped. "You didn't…I'm…"_

_ "Oh yes, you are a part of the Gravemind now, Em. But don't be scared. I mean, look at you. You're looking about as good as you did when we first met! That was always my dream, you know. Get married, have a few kids, get divorced after you found out I was having an affair with the attractive blond next door…Always a dream for us, Em," Quick as a flash, he was above me, his breath reeking of wine, "But here, in my mind, we can be together, forever. We never have to grow old; we can go wherever we want…two corpses, one mind…my own."_

_ I pushed myself away and felt my arms prickle at the thought of being with Ty forever. I would never have to grow old…stay with him forever…_

_ No._

_ It was the Gravemind. I could feel its presence in the room, suffocating me, wanting to gain access to my thoughts. I had to fight, had to win, had to…_

_ "Why is the Flood here, Tyler?" I said through gritted teeth. I willed tears to come, but alas, they never did. He looked taken aback but answered my question._

_ "Well, the Flood is here to finish what they started of course," He explained, "They started destroying all the pathetic little Forerunners over 100,000 years ago, wiping them out as they went. However, a little colony escaped even the blast of the Halo rings. The colony that sits on this planet today is the result of cowards amongst the Forerunners race. Their leader knew that she had broken the laws that bound them to the end. They never expected in a million years that their ancestors had kept the species of Flood they found but kept them they did and when they broke out…They were hungry."_

_ He grabbed my arm and I gasped as he brought me to my feet. His electric eyes held a feral lust I had seen from him only twice before, "Sort of like how I am right now, my dear, dear, Emmaline. Let go of everything. Give into me. I promise, you will not die, but exist in here with me…I will keep you safe, which is more than that alien could ever do. He couldn't protect you from me, you see. I was able to come to you, to harm you, to touch you…" His hand drifted down, barely skimming my chest before he found my breast and placed a hand on it. "And I want to touch you now."_

_ "Tyler…please…" I tried to keep myself back, from letting go. Gods, I had forgotten how much I loved his touch. I knew I was giving in._

_ "Just let go, my princess, you and I can be together again."_

_ "N-no…I love Thel…" I murmured while his hand drifted lower and graced the indent at my thighs where heat pooled._

_ "Did Thel ever kiss you like this?"_

_ His lips were on mine before I could stop them and he was kissing me._

_ At this point of the story, I really wish I could say that I managed to resist, managed to shove him off of me and run him through with a hot poker or something. Yet fate is rarely kind enough to keep our bellies from going completely bonkers when we kiss our ex…or in my case, dead boyfriend._

_ I closed my eyes and allowed myself to be kissed, wrapping my arms around his neck to draw myself in closer. His hands entangled themselves in my magically long hair and a whimper escaped my lips. How could I have denied us both for so long?!_

_ His tongue grazed my bottom lip and we met in the middle, our apparatuses dancing in a waltz that was 10 years coming. How I ever found myself at a wall, my legs wrapped around his waist was a mystery to me, but the dress rode up around my thighs and his hands drifted up, past my thighs to where my underwear, or what could be called underwear sat, guarding my most intimate treasure._

_ "I want you, I want you now," He whispered huskily in my ear and I knew that I could not deny him any longer. His thumbs hooked around the lacy straps and in one fluid motion, they were gone and I heard him fumbling at the belt of his jeans. I heard the telltale sounds of a fly being unzipped and then I felt his erection on my thigh._

_ "Wait," My voice came strong and confident, "Let me feel it. I haven't done that in 10 years."_

_ He nodded fervidly and my hand traveled down my thigh slowly with a purpose. His dick was rather disappointing compared to Thel's and I used this image, Thel's face, Penny's face, Holmes and even Hoffman to keep me from giving in. _

_ The knife was sheathed in his stomach before he could even register the fact I had a knife, I had been clever. A roar of anger escaped his lips as he flung me across the room and yanked the knife out of his stomach. I landed with a THUNK and I winced as his wound healed instantly._

_ "You fucking bitch," He snarled and grabbed me by the throat, hoisting me up in the air. My fingers clutched in vain at his beefy forearms as I tried to take a breath, "You sneaky cunt. I was going to make it painless for you, hypnotize you into nothingness but now you've made it personal."_

_ He slammed my head against the wall and I saw stars dance in front of my vision. This was the end. He was going to kill me, if I wasn't already dead, which I probably was, or practically. He slammed his length into my body and I cried out, his grip loosening on my throat as he pleasured himself with my eighteen year old body._

_ My hands clenched and unclenched as he slammed into me again and again, until tears fell from my eyes and I screamed for him to stop. However, this only made him continue faster and faster until I felt him lose himself inside my womb. He let my body slide down the wall as he cleaned himself up as I cried silently._

_ "This would have been so much more pleasurable for both of us if you had just given into me." He said gently, as if he was nothing more than a tender lover._

_ "Fuck you," I said, my voice scratchy from his abuse. He just sighed and shook his head._

_ "Poor little baby," He cooed, "You can go now, leave me to my castle and lose yourself to the Gravemind."_

_ The scene faded and I felt my body grow light. I heard Tyler's voice in my head, prying for information._

_ "Oh Emmaline Jackson, how many secrets we've shared my dear." _


	25. One Final Push

Penny stumbled through the woods and rubbed her throat. It was still sore from where the Chief had grabbed it and she realized that there would probably be bruises around it and it would probably be sore for a long time. She glanced to her right and saw The Arbiter and to her left, The Master Chief. They kept her moving, kept her legs pumping up and down. They followed her best friend's signal and prayed they wouldn't be too late to help her.

They ran for about fifteen minutes until The Chief stopped.

"Well," He said, "It looks like the only direction here is down."

True, the place where Em's tracker was coming from was under the earth in a small cave that would have gone unnoticed if one hadn't been looking for something like that. Fortunately, they hadn't run into any more Flood but that didn't mean they wouldn't.

"After you, Arbiter," Penny said, earning her a glare from the lanky creature. However, he did indeed drop into the cave first before Chief motioned for Penny to do so and then he himself dropped. The floor was right underneath the cavern mouth and would make an easy escape if so they needed one. However, the walls were also coated with a rather disgusting substance that sprung slightly under Penny's feet as she walked.

"Stay quiet," The Chief said, "Or we'll never find this girl."

They trotted through puddles of slime and muck and mire until they found their first flood spore pod. It opened up with a hiss and Penny barely had enough time to react before one of them was almost on her. She smacked it with the butt of her weapon, screaming until she realized she was only hitting at air and that The Arbiter had been the one who had killed it. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked from the Chief to the Arbiter.

"Okay…so much for staying quiet." The Chief said as Penny blushed.

"You're protected by armor," She pointed out, "And you're a super soldier. I'm a weak, mild-mannered scientist who has no protection in which to speak. Lead on."

They did indeed march on, only finding the minimum signs of Flood and only then Flood spores. It was like everything else had just disappeared.

Finally, the trio entered a vast chamber that nearly took Penny's breath away. In the middle was a large, pulsing, disgustingly green thing that looked like a plant vacuole. Surprisingly enough, there were only a few Flood creatures that guarded the giant pod.

They were hidden behind a rather disgusting wall that literally dripped with slime and Penny felt her stomach churn.

"Okay, does anyone have a game plan?" She asked quietly and the Chief cocked his head.

"We could always try shooting her out, just to shake things up."

Penny wondered if this was his attempt of humor. She threw him a glare but it pretty much just slid off his metallic back. She glanced over at the Arbiter and was surprised to see him tenser than she had ever seen him before. It was probably because his mate was probably somewhere in that giant gelatinous blob.

"Okay, I think that the Chief's plan is better than anything we've got so…shooting it is," She confirmed and touched her empty gun, "Of course, you two have to be doing the shooting due to the fact I have no more ammo left."

She felt a heavy Magnum in her hand before she could utter another word. "You had better be a good shot," John said and she could hear the scowl behind his voice. "On the count of three. One…two…"

Penny was up on two. She shot a Forerunner Flood creature several times before it crumpled to the ground and the Chief and the Arbiter were there, running ahead and shooting everything in their paths, Flood creatures falling to their knees as bullets ripped through their bodies.

Penny dodged and shot before coming up to the giant blob. Before she could do anything, she saw the pale, bloodstained hand sticking up out of the goo. "ARBITER! I FOUND HER!" She screamed and stumbled back away from the thing, her head spinning. He booked it over to the goo and saw it too, Emmaline's hand. His gut churned as he gripped his energy sword and sliced through the fat-like nodules that emitted noxious gas into the air.

He prayed then. He prayed to whatever might have heard him, praying that his Emmaline wasn't gone, wasn't a part of the Gravemind that had been trying to build itself on this planet.

Her body fell from the vice-like grips of death and as he slowly picked up her broken body, he realized what true pain was. He thought he had felt it before, when he had been branded a heretic, when his name had been Thel Vadamee and he had been a part of the Covenant. But holding that woman in his arms, he realized what true pain was.

It was the pain of almost losing the one he loved most.

Penny had her COM Link out and she was speaking to the person on the other end and he saw her weeping silently, trying to keep her voice steady. The Demon was just standing there, quietly observing what was to be observed. He had his gun over on shoulder and he watched, unimpressed as Thel set his wife down and started hacking away at the Gravemind that was so desperately trying to form. The Chief also began to destroy the Gravemind before long and as soon as Penny was done explaining what had happened, she grabbed her own gun and began to unload her clip into the monster's quivering flesh.

When the Gravemind had been reduced to nothing but a pile of gelatinous mush, Penny turned to the Arbiter, her cheeks shiny with sweat and tears and smiled.

"I am going to blow up this whole fucking planet," She gave a hiccup and smiled bitterly at the Arbiter, "If it's the last thing I ever do, I am going to blow it up and save my sister from these bastards."

Thel didn't say anything but the look in the girl's eyes showed him that something in that statement had to be true.

He took Emmaline's body again and began to run towards the daylight, the freedom that the day had promised. He squeezed her closely to himself and watched the slight rise and fall of her chest, a clear indication she was still holding on…but for how much longer? He hoped the babies were alright through all this and he closed his eyes, willing for this all to be a dream.

The sunlight burst into his vision and fell out onto the forest floor, Emmaline tumbling from his grasp. This caused his plucky brunette to stir slightly. He watched her try and take a deeper breath but wince as a moan escaped her lips. He reached out to her and her eyes fluttered open slowly. He leaned over but as soon as she saw him, he saw the tears come to her eyes.

"Don't look at me," She whispered but he grasped her chin with his fingers and turned her head towards him. Her face crumpled and she tried to cry but her body was so weak, she could only emit a few dry sobs, "He raped me," She sobbed, "He used me and I enjoyed it!"

He grabbed her in a hug and pulled her up against his chest and she sobbed and sobbed for an extremely long time until Penny and the Chief came out of the cave as well. Emmaline was so distraught, she didn't even ask about how they had found the Master Chief but she didn't have much time to do anything because at that moment, her body finally gave out and she passed out once again, silencing the screaming voice s that still hung on in her mind.

* * *

The hovercraft was there in 20 minutes and nobody said anything about the Chief except Holmes who had apparently survived the attack and pushed his way through, his eyes wild, searching.

"Where is she?!" He shouted into the face of Penny who pulled back as if she had been struck. The Master Chief pulled her back slightly and stepped in front of her, to shield her.

"Who were you looking for, Sir?"

Holmes scowled and removed his helmet, his eyes now looking more sad than angry, "Did you find Alex? Did you find my baby?"

Penny looked down at her shoes and felt a blush creeping up her cheeks, "No, sir. She wasn't with Dr. Jackson." She glanced over to see the Arbiter tending to her, gently bandaging wounds on her hands and picking away splinters of dirt and touching her abdomen. Even with her limited knowledge of Sangheli facial expressions, she knew that something was dreadfully wrong besides the fact that his mate was on her deathbed, by the looks of it.

Holmes' face went white and he turned on his heel to speak to some marines, "What's going on, Sir?" She asked quietly and he sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"The Flood is breaking through the city force fields, Waits. They're trying to get the ships ready for evacuation but there are too many Forerunners around the city we can't evacuate them all. Pstana is trying her best to get everyone to the ships but it's a task that should have started when we got here. The Flood is taking over everything it touches and we don't have long until we're all dead." He said with a sigh, "We only were just able to get you and your friends out of harm's way." His frown deepened and he sighed, "I don't think we can save a quarter of the population of Forerunners nor can we save all our men. About half of them have already been taken by the Flood. We were lucky to escape with our lives," He motioned to three other men who had been on the original group to find the Chief.

Penny sighed and fell over, mentally and physically exhausted…and the fight wasn't even half over. She looked back at the Chief who hadn't said anything but was staring straight ahead. His head snapped towards her and she glanced away but knew she had been caught looking, like her hand had been caught in the cookie jar.

"Are you nervous?" He asked her suddenly and she looked back, her mouth drawn into a tight frown.

"Deathly terrified," She admitted, "I'm a woman of science, not a soldier. I don't know how to fight or how to do anything. I know how to run."

The Chief was quiet for a moment but then spoke, "Running is a good skill to have. It's kept me alive the times I didn't have weapons."

She thought about this for a few moments before speaking again, "I never thought we would find you. I thought you were dead by now, especially when they said you'd been gone for 500 years. I just…how did you survive that long?"

"Luck, I guess."

The conversation ended there while a marine handed Penny a heavy bulletproof vest, a helmet and a Forerunner weapon that was too big for her. She felt like a girl gone off to war in her father's armor. She wanted to cry and scream and beg her friend to wake up. Her cocky, kind friend who always had something to say to lighten up the situation, or who just helped her feel more at home but was now lying on death's doorstep, pale and broken like a toy left in the rain.

"We need to get her to the first ship out of here as soon as we land," The Arbiter said, moving away from her body, "We still have medics with us, yes?"

"Yes, they're back in the city helping the wounded get to the ships. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to do much with moving them because the only way we can get through is with 200 guards at our back, beating the Flood. We don't have much hope of leaving this planet."

"How did they even get through the force field around the city?" Penny asked, shifting her weapon from one shoulder to another.

"They're not sure but when we land, we have to go to Pstana. She has more instructions when we get there."

"And what are we going to do with Em? She's deadweight if we carry her through the Flood, she might get infected!"

The Arbiter turned to her and his mandibles splayed in a slight smile, "You are a good friend, caring about Emmaline more than your own safety. You may get infected as well."

She shook her head roughly and then blushed, smiling slightly, "No, I'm not a good friend, just someone who wants to make sure that everyone gets safely home."

"We're here," A Forerunner said grimly and Penny looked below to see…pandemonium. Buildings were on fire everywhere and she could see the smoke that was the combination of the Flood and fire. Even from this great of a height, she could see the Forerunners and marines writhing in agony as they fought against it…but ultimately lost.

"Oh God…" She murmured, putting a hand to her mouth, "It's worse than I thought…"

"Just wait until you get farther down into the city," Holmes muttered, pulling down his helmet, "Get ready, Marines. We're coming in for landing."

The Arbiter threw Em over his shoulder and Penny winced as she heard her friend moan in discomfort. "I'll get her to the ship."

"Fight your way to Pstana, at the top of that tower. She'll tell you what to do next," A Forerunner said, leaping off the ship and firing at a Flood creature, "Hurry! We can't hold them off for much longer!" He yelled before being smothered by three of the creatures that seemingly jumped out of nowhere. Penny swore loudly and followed the Chief from the ship, shooting at anything that got too close, her bright red curls bouncing wildly as she swung her gun this way and that.

"Stay right beside me," The Chief grunted as they ran through clouds of noxious smelling gases. She gagged on them but kept running until they reached the elevator that seemed to still be operational. Making sure there were no Flood creatures about to kill them, they raced into the elevator shaft. John took a fallen pipe or something and jammed it through the lock, showering them with sparks.

"What are you doing?" Penny demanded but the Master Chief obviously had other plans.

"It will stop them…for a time," He promised as the elevator began to glide up with an unnaturally quiet humming noise. At the top of the lift, they were faced with a door that opened. When it closed behind the duo, they were faced with the calm before the storm.

"Come on, we need to hurry," Penny said, trying to run but was held back by all her armor. She wondered how The Chief managed to run in all of his before realizing that he was genetically enhanced. She couldn't help wishing for a few seconds that she too was genetically modified but quickly got over that as they approached a locked door, "This must be where they all are," she mused before touching a button that would unleash the door. Narrowing her eyes, she waited for the door to open and saw several Forerunners standing in the shadows, watching them, their own weapons raised at their chests.

"Penny?" Came the voice of her dear friend, K'vada, "Oh Penny, you came back for us!" She pushed back her mother and hugged the scientist around the waist, "I knew you would bring the Metal Man back!"

"I would never leave you behind," She murmured and squeezed the Forerunner girl back before looking up at the Forerunners in the room, "How long until we get the ships up and running?"

Pstana was standing over a control panel, her eyes unfocused and her green skin sweaty, "It'll be another hour or so."

"We don't have an hour, ma'am," The Chief said and she turned around and for the first time since she entered the room, Penny could feel the tension that was emitting from the others in the room, but mostly from Pstana. Something was going on with her but Penny didn't know what.

"Don't push your luck, Metal Man," She spat, spittle flying from her clenched teeth, before turning back to the controls, "We need an hour and if you're not willing to be in the fight, at least help me get the ships started up."

Wordlessly, Penny stepped forward and began to watch Pstana's hands move gracefully over the controls before realizing…

"Hey! You're not doing anything!" She shouted and pushed past Pstana to look at the controls. Actually, she was doing something. She was bringing down the shields to allow the Flood into the city! "What the hell are you doing?" She demanded before she was run through with an energy sword-like weapon by Pstana.

The whole world slowed down. She couldn't take a breath; she couldn't move she couldn't do anything but stare in horror at the weapon that protruded through her belly. The energy sword was removed from her stomach and she dropped to the floor, shaking in shock.

"What an obnoxious human," Pstana murmured, sheathing her energy blade, "So frail and small. I would have thought Emmaline would have picked her friends more wisely."

Before anything else happened, the Chief had his gun pressed up to Pstana's head and she was laughing, "Bravo, Spartan, you only destroyed part of what I have to offer!"

With that, her body started to contort and it began to dissolve until it melted into the body of a rather sharply dressed young man who was wearing a black suit with red accents, "You could never really kill me though. I'll always be with my dear Emmaline, whether she likes it or not."

"Yeah, like hell you are, buddy." The Chief said before slamming into Tyler, making him stumble backwards slightly but he was still laughing.

"Oh Gods, I cannot tell you how long I've been disguising myself as that old hag, but it was fun to control what's left of an empire. That's how my brethren found you, you see. I told you where to go and they followed. It was so easy but they didn't expect…"

CRACK! A sharp noise was heard and Tyler's face contorted for a moment and he glanced at the hole that was now in his abdomen, "Ah, I should have known where I got you," Were his last words before his form crumbled into dust.

"Mother…?" K'vada's face was white with terror and tears were streaming down her face as she realized that the woman she thought she had known turned out to really be the Flood mastermind in a suit. Penny threw the weapon to the ground and blinked the pain out of her eyes. Everything was fuzzy and she was trying her hardest not to faint.

"Help…me…" She muttered before falling back as K'vada stepped towards her mother's ashes and gingerly picked up the sash that she had worn.

"K'vada…?" One of the Forerunners asked but before he could say anything else, she turned to him, the tears now gone from her eyes but they were replaced with a fierce determination.

"Get those ships started up, right now. I want all the humans that are still alive on those ships and off the planet. We're going to blow this place to our ancestors."

This got Penny out of her stupor, "Wait, what? What about…ohh…" She mumbled and clutched the wound in her stomach, "What about you?"

Her eyes hardened and she scowled, "We were cowards the first time the Flood ever attacked us. That's how we survived. We jeopardized everything our ancestors worked for to result in our survival and the Flood almost coming back. Tonight, we repay our debts."

The Forerunners were still until K'vada spoke again, this time her voice breaking, "Didn't you hear me?! Start the self-destruct sequence and get those ships in the air. Don't allow any Forerunner to get on them." She turned to the Chief, "I don't know what will happen to Dr. Jackson when we destroy the planet whether or not her visions will die but I am truly sorry for what has happened." Tears now began to flow down her cheeks again. She shouldn't have been making these decisions. "Take my friend and keep her safe. Keep both of them safe." Her eyes traveled down to Penny's semi-conscious form, "You're my best friend, Penny," She whispered, "I'm sorry I couldn't see what my mother was before."

"No, come with us, please K'vada! I'll raise you as my own daughter, I'll do anything, don't leave me!" She wept, obviously delirious with pain, "I won't leave you."

K'vada smiled bitterly and reached forward to kiss her friend's sweaty forehead, "This is for the best," She said, "We will never have to worry about the Flood ever again…but before you leave, a gift. Like my cousin said, you will tame the beast's heart but it will take time and patience. I give you, Patricia Waits, my eternal blessing of the clan leader and the eternal blessing of my ancestors. I love you, my friend."

"No, K'vada…NO!" She wept as the Chief scooped her up before she finally gave out from the amount of pain.

"How long do we have?" He asked in his deep monotone voice.

"You have seven minutes to get off this planet." She glanced at Penny, "Keep her safe, will you? Get her back to your home planet safely. The ships will be ready for you. Get out of here, John, you are still needed elsewhere."

"We destroyed the door down below. How do I…"

"Take the lift farther down and there's a series of tunnels. They might be crawling with Flood but I've seen how you fight you'll do great. I'll launch the ships in five minutes whether you're on them or not, do I make myself clear?"

John-117 was quiet for a moment before nodding, "Yes ma'am."

She turned back to the controls and as the Chief was walking out the door said, "Thank you for everything, son of my ancestors. You have a gift from them too, you know. You and Penny share that gift as well. Do you know what it is?"

He didn't even answer her. He knew exactly what that gift was.

Luck.

The elevator continued to slide down silently through the now deathly still tower and kept going until they stopped at the bottom floor. That's where the Chief encountered his first Forerunner Flood creature.

It fell prey to the business end of his gun before long and he kept moving, terminating every Flood spore in his path, destroying every Flood foot soldier. He hated them all. Every step was like being back on Halo, running for his life through the Library, dodging Covenant forces also vying for the key that would apparently thrust them into the Great Journey. Oh, how John smirked at that idea now.

He raced through the underground rooms until he saw a shadow moving along the wall and just rolled out of the way to avoid a swinging energy sword as Tyler again stepped out of the shadows, a wicked, mad smile on his face.

"Well, you weren't what I was expecting, truthfully," He mused, tossing the Chief an energy sword, "I was sort of hoping to kill that fucking Elite and my whore bitch of an ex-girlfriend. Did I tell you that she stabbed me? Oh yeah, the skank found out she could use the inside of her FUCKING mind and made a knife out of thin air. It hurt like a mother but hey, what can you do?"

"You talk way too much," John growled deep in his throat and Tyler laughed darkly.

"Well, I never really talked this much when I was alive but since now I've got all the time in the world, I really enjoy talking. It's really…exciting. You should try it sometime, John. It really gets the ladies going. Especially with a voice like yours…"

John reached for the energy sword and lunged at Tyler who swung his own blade which the Chief parried. He chortled and rolled his eyes.

"Really now John, you can't win this! I know your every move…Actually; I know everything about you…"

His whole life flashed in front of his eyes and he grunted in pain, "Oh yeah, I learned a thing or two about you from your good friend…Cortana, was her name, I think. AI? Really pretty thing too, it was too bad she wasn't human; she really had a thing for you, John. Do you mind if I call you John?"

"Yes."

"Understandable, my good man, I mean I am about to kill you and your little friend over there, the weak scientist and the giant silent Spartan! Such a match made in heaven, don't you think? At least, that's what I heard was supposed to happen between you two. Of course, it's only rumors from my only daughter. When I'm done with you, I think I'm going to go talk to her again, try and persuade the Flood aren't as bad as they say we are. I mean, sure it hurts like hell to go through the transformation but once it's over…hey, you're practically family!"

John glanced over at Penny who wasn't moving at all and wondered how long she had before the energy sword's power sucked her dry of all things called life. Tyler glanced over at Penny too and clicked his tongue disapprovingly.

"It's really a pity she's so sad, really. I mean, if she was something more of a fighter, maybe she would have been better off to kill but of course since she's nothing more than a bag of bones and a brain to boot, she'll make a great prize for the Gravemind. Smarts for sure. It'll help us get off this planet and conquer yours. Do you mind, Johnny-boy? I hope you don't because that would be a real shame if you minded."

However, what Tyler wasn't expecting while he was gloating was the fact that the Chief was still holding the energy sword and in one fell swoop, Tyler's body crumpled to the ground and his head went flying. It felt good to that, John decided. He hated people who had hot air for brains.

Gingerly, he picked up Penny's limp form and was nervous to see that the color was gone from her face and her pulse fluttered under his big gloved hands. Her fire red curls hung around her like tongues of fire that threatened to burn away all that she was. He had only known the woman for a few hours but it had been a long time since he had held someone this close.

His internal timer beeped softly, warning him he only had a minute left to get to the ships. That's when John really poured on the speed. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him and he felt Penny shift slightly in his arms and he held her tighter to his body, willing her to not fall out of his arms. The ground below them was beginning to shake as if the dead were being awakened. However, it wasn't the dead, but Flood spores, hundreds of thousands of them racing up towards the surface but were unable to cling to the walls for some strange reason.

The elevator was now 10 feet ahead and John leapt and slammed his fist on the buttons, praying that would get the elevator to begin its climb.

The elevator creaked and groaned under the strain as his timer hit 30 seconds. His heart started beating faster as the lift began to move, faster now, towards the surface. Finally, it opened up into a hangar that was crawling with Flood and Forerunners, trying to fight them off the ship that seemed to be shaking. One Forerunner spotted John with his cargo and screamed at him to get on the ship. He didn't need to be told twice. Dropping his weapon, he booked it across the hangar and up a set of stairs as his timer began counting down…10…9…

He threw Penny through the hatch that was still opened at the top of the stairs and then leapt in as the door slid silently closed behind him, almost crushing his foot. As soon as the ship began to shake, the Chief jumped up and grabbed Penny's form to his and ran where he could find help.

"Chief!" He heard a male voice yell and he whipped around to see Holmes running towards him, "We can take the doctor from here; we've got some medics to look after her."

"Yeah," He said and followed the man down the hallway towards what looked to be a medical bay. Marines were running around everywhere, trying to make heads or tails of the controls as they blasted off from the hangar and broke through. However, she ship seemed to be able to control itself rather well and quickly left the planet's surface far behind them.

The marines that were manning the controls were astonished to see this before a familiar little AI popped up on a pedestal in the middle of the room and smiled kindly at the masses.

"You didn't think that this hunk of metal would really fly by itself, would you?" Jasper asked and several marines chuckled, "We're getting out of here as fast as we quickly and entering the slipstream to get us as far away from this planet as we possibly can."

"How can we get out?" Asked a remaining scientist, his arm nearly severed but he was still standing, "We're in a planet itself."

"We get out the same way we got in." He explained, "Hang on, everyone!"

The ship gave a rather large lurch and the marines fell forward, each grasping on to whatever they could find, mostly each other as they skidded forward. They were plunged into complete darkness and then suddenly, a light that none of them had seen in over two months flooded the cabin. The ship shuddered to a stop and they stood up on shaky legs and drank in the celestial light that was washing over them.

"We're…out?" A marine murmured, "We're out! We survived!"

"Yes, and if we don't get back into slipspace, we'll all be killed in the explosion that will rip that planet from the inside out." Jasper said as marines began to stir and moved towards their respectable stations. "Captain Holmes?" He said and Holmes snapped his head back. "Permission to enter slipspace?"

Holmes brushed the control panels and felt a pang of longing for his beautiful Alex before a tear slipped from his eye.

"Permission granted."


	26. K'Vada's Hope

_K'vada leaned back in her chair and watched her world crumble down around her. The world she had known was about to fall and she was to blame. However, she knew that it had to be done. Her first council member, underneath her of course, ran around like a chicken with its head cut off, or at least she thought this was the human expression. _

_ "Council Leader," He spoke hurriedly, "There is still time to get off this planet before it is destroyed!" _

_ She leaned back in her chair and a single tear tricked from the corner of her eye, "We cannot do that. We've started something that cannot be undone and that is our burden." She explained as she touched the necklace that was given to her by Emmaline. It was an eagle, she had said, a bird that brought great hope to the people on Earth. She had told her to keep it safe, right after the wedding when she had taken it off. She had said that it had been given to her by a love long forgotten but didn't go into detail. _

_ "We pay for our mistakes now." She announced, standing up, "We will destroy the Flood, right here and right now." _

_ She leaned forward and touched her forehead to the cool panels that sat in front of her and tried to stay strong. Below her, she could see the Flood had almost taken the whole city and ran rampant through the once beautiful streets of perfect white. Smoke billowed out from buildings and Forerunners and Marines left behind but they were being quickly outnumbered by Flood soldiers as their friends and comrades were destroyed by the massive waves that just kept coming. _

_ She knew it wasn't long before they broke through the barricaded door that they had put up several moments earlier for she could hear their telltale squirming sounds from outside the door. She felt her stomach contort and looked at the timer. There was only 60 seconds left before the planet was blown from the inside out and she smiled softly. Soon, it would all be over and she would never have to worry about the Flood or being the leader ever again. _

_ The door burst open before they had time to react and the creatures burst in and the guttural shrieks from other council members could be heard as they fell prey to the Flood. Of course, in the middle of it, was the man that had taken her mother from her. _

_ He stepped over the writhing, changing bodies of her fellow Forerunners and Tyler motioned for the Flood spores to stop but gather around her, just waiting for the opportunity to strike. A nasty leer appeared on his face as he leaned down over the young Forerunner female. _

_ "You lose, Your Greatness," He mocked bowed and then arched an eyebrow, "Let's hear that last speech, that final hurrah before I take over your precious planet." _

_ Her eyes flicked to the timer and saw that the whole thing had taken almost the whole minute and now there was only ten seconds left to go before everything was destroyed. She shot him her own nasty smile before saying her final speech._

_ "No, I am afraid you lose, my dear Flood friend."_

_ Tyler snarled at her and then screamed for the spores to attack her. She didn't even have time to react as the spores suctioned themselves to her body and tried to take her over but she must remain strong for the last five…_

_ A final pop, a sharp, fast pain, and K'vada knew she had done it. She had destroyed the last of the Flood, a fear that had never been accomplished by her ancestors. She hoped they would treat her well. She smiled to herself and finally knew that she was safe in the arms of those before her but now, finally after so many years of being misled, she knew the truth. _

_ A small sigh escaped her lips and she felt herself in someone's arms but she didn't care who. All she wanted to do now was rest and with that, she closed her eyes for the final time and knew that she had accomplished all that was expected of her._


	27. Bittersweet

_-May 29th, 2558-_

_ To my dearest mother, _

_ I was given this journal in the hopes that I could document everything that went on these past few months by Dr. Beckman. He told me it would help with the nightmares that plagued my skull. I haven't dreamt about Tyler since we left the Shield World but I keep walking through the jungles in the hopes that I can save those who died at the hands of the Flood. I hear Hoffman scream as she falls, I see marines as their very will is stripped away from them as they enter something far worse than death. _

_ I am thankful for Penny who has been in the bed next to me in the medical bay. She's been very quiet and serious since we left and I think she blames herself for the destruction of the planet and her best friend. She seeks no solace from anyone even though sometimes the Master Chief comes into the room and sits with her but I don't think that does anything. She's still as silent as the grave, if not more. _

_ Thel tells me he stayed by my side ever since the operation. My babies, his children, are dead. They were killed in the jungle and whether they died when I was kicked or when I was part of the Gravemind, I will never know nor do I want to know. I wonder if God accepts children from two different families. ribs, two broken ones and three bruised ones, are healing and my hands, as broken as they were, are healing but the scars will never fade, like the scars on my heart. _

_ He too has become distant and even his caresses and gestures of love aren't as carefree as they were on the Shield World. I fear he has lost that love for me that we both experienced so passionately for I believe I can't let that go. I find myself crying more than I ever knew I could cry. Along with the list of the dead is Rachel Oster, the young woman who I barely knew. Lopez, Perkins, Penny's flame, and of course, K'vada. Penny seems to miss her more than anything. Holmes is too silent. He barely speaks to anyone and Thel told me that most of his time is spent in the bridge, getting us home. I wonder if he has slept since our escape. _

_ We entered slipspace about two weeks ago, according to Penny, and time seems to slip by. This is the first day I've been able to hold a pen in my reconstructed hands. After we got back into the city, Thel took me to the ship and helped get injured Marines back to the vessel. Of course, after all that, only about a third of the original crew made it back. It hurts to know that my friends and peers are gone but I find myself praying for them. To who, I cannot tell you, but I really hope they're listening to my pleas. _

_ I miss my babies. I know that I only had them for about two or three weeks but I loved to think that I would become a mother. I think you would have liked your grandchildren, even if they weren't exactly like you or I. Then again, I think you would like Thel. He's brave and that's what I like best about him. Like? No, not like, LOVE. I love him, mom, it' just as simple as that. It's weird to think that I could ever fall in love with an alien, especially one who threatened our very existence but love is blind, like the songs you sang to me when I was a little girl. _

_ But I've been having these dreams, Mom. I dream that when we get back to Earth, he'll leave me. I know we're married and all but what if we weren't? Would he leave me? Go back to Sangheilos for a "proper" mate? If I had my children, I would have a bargaining chip but I hate thinking of them like that. They were there too, in the dream. He took them with him and I screamed and cried and kicked but nothing I could do would bring them back. They have names in the dream too, Grace Vreti and Lucas Tsta Vadam. They both had their father's features and mine too. Silky brown hair that fell down their backs and golden eyes but they had mandibles and mottled skin, like he did. They were beautiful and I wish I could have kept them with me. But then I wake up and their not there and I remember that they're gone forever…perhaps for the best. What would their peers at school thought of them?_

_ I probably won't send this to you but that's alright. It's good to get all my feelings out on paper. I miss Earth and Leah and Kylie. I wonder if they'll let me pick up where I left off or if the UNSC will take care of me for the rest of my life. Maybe Thel and I will have to stay away from the rest of humanity in a special apartment with our child. I don't think the UNSC will take no for an answer on children and I still want to have his children. Like I said, I still love him. _

_ Penny told me about how Tyler was using Pstana to control our access and take down the shields of the city and how K'vada took charge of the city at the last moments of her life. Her eyes have already been mixing in with the dreams that haunt my unconscious hours. She was stabbed by him and so she too is confined to a bed. She was lucky that the energy sword didn't hit any major organs but Penny seems to be chalk full of luck. The Chief is with her now even as I write this. She's sleeping but in the light of the one lamp, I can see him looking at her. Does she remind him of another Spartan who fell in battle? She must. Either that or he feels like he has to repay her for saving him. It's strange to look upon his face instead of the mask. _

_ He's seen me watching him. His eyes are brown, cold, and emotionless. I wonder if he could ever feel anything towards my friend. Maybe he could, maybe he couldn't, it's a mystery to me what goes on inside a Spartan's head. I really sort of wish I did though. Perhaps I should have gotten into the Spartan business instead of the Sangheili business. Then again, how many more Sangheili are there than Spartans? _

_ Anyway, I'm going to sleep. Beckman just walked in and told me that I need sleep. Screw sleep. I need a freaking psychiatrist. I'll write soon. _

* * *

I sat the notebook and pen down with difficulty and Beckman turned to give me some pills. "How are you doing with writing?" He asked and I smiled bitterly.

"It hurts but I think it's good to get it out onto paper," I said and popped the pills, not even touching the glass of water that stood by my bedside. "It's still hard to hold a pen. I've written down most of what's been going on these past few days. Any idea when we'll arrive back on Earth? I want a hamburger like nobody's business."

"Probably about five more days or so. We're making headway with this ship, faster than anything else on record, I think." He reached over as the Chief walked out of the room and turned off the light, "I'll let you walk around tomorrow, okay?"

"Yes, Mother," I said and he chuckled before closing the door behind him. I winced as I shifted over still sore ribs and waited for my eyes to adjust. I knew tonight would have been another sleepless night if Beckman hadn't given me those sleeping pills. I would probably be out in another five minutes or so.

The ship had come supplied with human necessities including food, water and medicine, placed in the interior before our departure. Beckman had been given pills to help with most minor ailments but my fingers had been broken when I grabbed onto the vine. Only the pure adrenaline coursing through my body had stopped the searing pain that would have made me let go of the vine.

My eyes began to drop farther and farther down and I felt my lung convulse in a yawn. Oh yeah, the pills also helped with the dreams. I never saw those faces I had lost when I was popping my little colorful friends.

My body finally gave up the fight that my mind was thrashing so hard against and my body drifted into a sweet unconsciousness.

"Emmaline?"

My eyes snapped open and I saw Thel sitting next to my bed, gently clasping my still bandaged hands.

"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" I teased and his mandibles splayed slightly.

"While I am thankful you still have your sense of humor…" He began and I laughed slightly, "How are you faring?"

"Much better, I think. Beckman told me I can walk around the ship today. Would you like to walk around with me?" I asked and Thel gave me a slight smile.

"Yes, of course," he said as Beckman came into the ward. He glanced at Thel and I could tell that he still didn't like my choice of mate. Well, like I had a choice…

"I need to ask you to leave for a few moments while Dr. Jackson gets dressed," he said stiffly as Thel stood, snorted at the medical doctor, who flinched slightly and then walked out of the room. He handed me a pair of sweats and a tee shirt along with a pair of hospital socks, easy for slipping on and off.

"Are you feeling up to walking around?" He asked as I slid out of bed, wincing at my weak legs.

"My legs aren't in complete and utter peril," I told him and he rolled his eyes and then turned on his heel to walk out of the room.

"Be careful when you're walking around," he advised, "if it hurts, come straight back, okay?"

"You got it," I said but stopped him before he could turn around completely, "if I walk around the whole day, can I move back into the barracks with Thel?"

"I don't see why not," he said and then nodded to me, "Good day, Dr. Jackson."

I quickly changed into the comfortable clothing and then slipped the socks onto my feet. They didn't give me shoes, probably due to the fact that I probably couldn't get into them. Ah well, socks were comfortable and I enjoyed the cushiness.

I glanced over at Penny who was still sleeping, or pretending to sleep. Beckman, when he came in, had said she had slipped into a state of depression. She was just fine but chose not to get out of bed. I wanted to scream at her to snap out of it, but what could I honestly do?

I snapped on the light in the bathroom and walked slowly in before I saw…

Me.

It was terrifying. My face, think and boxy on a good day, looked gaunt and pale; my cheekbones jutting out like a starved child. My eyes were sunken into my skull, their usual warm hazel creaminess replaced with haunted animalistic eyes that looked terrified. My dark hair fell in oily strands and was longer than it should have been. Suddenly, something overcame me. I didn't know what it was but I didn't want to stare at that stranger in the mirror any longer.

Above the toilet was a cabinet and I reached for it, thankful I was a bit taller than the average Joe. My hands finally grasped on something that would come in great handy to what I was about to do and pulled out a pair of scissors. They were long and wickedly sharp and slowly, walking back to the mirror, I held one clump of dull, lifeless hair in my hand and I cut it off.

The clump fell to the floor quicker than I expected it to and I began to move the scissors around my hair, snipping and hacking off strands of hair until the floor was awash in a sea of brown hair. It took about ten minutes but finally, the hiss of blade meeting another blade subsided and I dropped them into the mess that lay about my feet and ran a hand through my hair.

It was short. Choppy and uneven, it brushed the back of my neck and I had given myself bangs. I hadn't had bangs since I was a little girl. I hadn't had hair this short since I was a little girl. The cut made me appear older, but less troubled and more alive. A laugh escaped my lips but it quickly turned into a sob as I fell to the floor of the bathroom and began to cry, my shoulders shaking and tears soaking the hair.

I didn't know how long I was in the bathroom but finally, I felt a hand on my shoulder and I looked up through tear filled eyes and saw Penny's own sad smile and limp, dirty red curls.

"I like your hair," She said simply and I barked out a laugh, "Would you do mine?"

For the first time in two weeks, Penny's eyes brightened as we cut through her mess of tangles and greasy curls, the fire red joining the cacophony of brown that littered the bathroom floor. Hers wasn't as short, just touching below her ears but even as I cut through the chaos of hair, her skin seemed to brighten and get less pale. Her eyes began to sparkle again and she too cried when she saw her short hair.

She then changed from the gown she was wearing into an outfit that was similar to mine and we walked out of the medical bay arm in arm with our battle wounds proudly showing. Thel had obviously gotten tired of waiting around and so we wandered through the ship before stumbling onto a small laboratory in the very back of the ship. It made me homesick both for the Shield World and Earth as I ran a hand across the perfect countertop, just begging to be used.

"Oh, I missed you," Penny murmured as she touched the Forerunner equivalent of a microscope. I turned my eyes towards the computer as suddenly, something made me jump.

"Well, hello ladies, you're both looking quite well," Came a familiar voice and I whipped around as Penny looked up, "Might I say I love your new haircuts."

"Jasper!" I gasped and if I could hug the AI, I would, "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I just spoke to the good doctor and it seems like his other patient went missing and it was only a matter of time before some of my favorite scientists found their way to the labs. How are you both feeling?"

"Well I feel better," I told him and noticed Penny didn't say anything but looked down at her feet in…embarrassment?

"That's good, quite good," he confirmed and then cocked his head slightly, "You're wanted on the bridge, by the way." His eyes landed on Penny like she was the one they wanted on the bridge. She pretended to be more interested in running a hand through her new short curls.

"Okay, thanks," I said before Jasper nodded and disappeared. We glanced at each other and then began to walk away from the back of the ship towards the front. "What do you think is going on?" I asked and Penny shrugged.

"Well, maybe they just want to fill us in everything that's been going on these past few days," She suggested but I couldn't help thinking about Jasper's eyes on Penny. They wanted her for some strange reason.

We continued our walk to the bridge but I had to sit down a few times because breathing too hard made my ribs hurt. Penny was patient and nodded at Marines who smiled and commented on our hair.

Finally, the door slid open that would take us to the bridge and we were greeted by none other than Lord Hood on the screen! Obviously we were still able to get a signal in the middle of slipspace.

"Doctors Jackson and Waits, I'm so glad you could join us," Holmes said, being all uniform, "Lord Hood has asked for your presence in this meeting."

"Indeed I did," The man said, giving the two of us a thin lipped smile, "Dr. Waits, may I be the first to congratulate you on your impressive rescue of the Master Chief?"

"Think nothing of it, Sir," She mumbled, going extremely red. I glanced over to see the Chief, his expression never changing once, "It was only luck."

"Luck is definitely on your side then, Waits." He said and then flicked his eyes to me, "The Arbiter tells me you two were joined by the Forerunners, is this correct, Dr. Jackson?"

"Yes, Sir."

"And that you were with child but after a rather unfortunate run in with the Flood, both children were killed?"

I bit back a sigh and then responded, "Yes, Sir. That is correct."

He sighed and leaned back slightly, "You do realize that your union is not recognized here and as soon as you're back on the Orleans, you will be wedded and you will try again for a child."

My head snapped up. "With all due respect, Sir, I just lost my children. I don't think I'm ready for another one. Please, give us some time."

Lord Hood hesitated for a moment and then sighed, "Alright. I will give you another year. Is that long enough?"

"Yes, Sir," I responded and turned away to hide the tears that were threatening to fall. I caught Thel's eye and he watched me from the corner of his eye. Did I catch a look of loathing in his dark eyes? Oh please God, no! I couldn't go through life with someone who didn't love me!

Lord Hood's attention turned back to Penny and I saw from the corner of my eye the Chief move to stand next to her. She glanced over at him and her eyes grew a little wider.

Hood cleared his throat before speaking again, "Dr. Waits, you have proved to have courage that we see very rarely, a perseverance that most people do not possess."

"Well, thank you very much Sir, but what does this have to do…"

He held a hand up to silence her. "The Master Chief and I spoke a long time before deciding the best thing for him to do when he gets back to Earth. There is no more war, Dr. Waits. A Spartan too needs to go somewhere."

"Are you saying I'm going to be a caretaker for him, Sir?" She asked and Hood chuckled dryly.

"Not exactly, Dr. Waits. We thought it might be best to have you masquerade as his wife."

The bridge went silent and I saw the color drain out of Penny's face. When Penny had finally spoken after about a week of being in bed, she had told me about when she had found the Master Chief and how he had almost strangled her. She was so small, so tiny, and so…young. The Chief was probably pushing his mid-forties while she hadn't even hit her thirtieth birthday!

"W-what…?" I heard her whisper as Lord Hood's smile fell slightly as he realized what he had done. "I can't be a wife! I don't even know him!"

"We will discuss more of the details when you get back to the Orleans," he said and then glanced over at Holmes, "We still have some things to discuss, Major Holmes."

"Yes, Sir," He murmured through clenched teeth and I saw Penny standing stiff as a board, tears streaming freely down her cheeks. Not Penny. She didn't deserve to live out her life with a Spartan. She needed to be with a man who was sweet and kind, maybe a fellow scientist, a nerd or something. She was a bright, bubbly bird while the Chief was…well…an ox. Not a good combination.

We were dismissed after this and I held Penny's shaking form against my body.

"It's not fair!" She screamed, catching the attention of passerby's, "I don't want to be married to a giant! He's not even gentle! He's not even handsome!"

"I know, sweetheart, I know." I whispered as we moved towards the room that she had been issued, "But you're only masquerading as his wife and at least you get to be with someone the same species as you."

She sniffed and then began crying again, "But you and the Arbiter are so…happy! And at least he talks to you. Do you know what he does?! He grunts!"

"You shouldn't take him for granted, Penny," Holmes' voice sliced through the conversation as he stepped over the threshold of the door, "He saved your life on the Shield World. He carried you all the way from the control room to the ship. You both almost died."

"I don't care!" She wept, tears bubbling out of her eyes, "I wish I could have died! Then I would have been with K'vada!"

"Don't say that, Penny," I snapped, "Be thankful you're alive!"

"Well, I'm not," She sniffed and then pushed herself out my arms, "Thanks for everything but I'm going to bed."

Before I could stop her, she stumbled down the hallway and out of sight, her red eyes still engraved in my mind. I shivered and looked up at Holmes, "What's up?"

"Making sure she's okay." He said and then glanced down at me, "How are you holding up?"

"I'm alright, a little mad. I don't want to get remarried. It's a load of bullshit that they don't see that union as legal."

"Well, at least you get to be with the one you love," He said almost bitterly. It was a punch to the stomach, like he was blaming me for Hoffman's death.

"I'm gonna go too," I stood up and brushed off my sweatpants, "I'll see you later, Holmes. Stay…whatever." I began to walk away but I felt his hand grasp my arm gently.

"Look, stay sharp. I know you're mad but we're talking about Lord Hood. Keep yourself out of trouble," He said and I glared and pulled my arm out of his grasp.

"It's my life, not yours. I can keep myself out of trouble, thank you very much."

He smirked and crossed his arms over his chest, "like you did back on the Shield World? Keep your nose clean, Kid."

"She told me to tell you to find someone else." I blurted out before I could stop myself. He narrowed his eyes and moved towards me.

"What did you say?"

"I said that Hoffman told me to tell you to find someone else," I said boldly, "She said you can't stay with her forever. Move on."

He was silent for a moment before speaking again, "Never say that to me again, do I make myself perfectly clear?" He hissed and I felt my cheeks heat up but I held my ground.

"I'm just the delivery girl, SIR." I put as much contempt into the word as I could muster, "Just doing my job."

"You'll do good never to speak of her again. She was so much better than you could ever be." He seethed, murder flickering in his eyes.

That felt like a punch in the stomach. He was right, of course. She had sacrificed her life instead of insisting we both went down. She was strong and I was…weak.

He could see the surprise in my eyes and he took full advantage of that, "Did I leave you speechless, Emmaline? You know it's true, don't you? Like I said, don't mention her again."

With that, he walked away, leaving me angry and upset as I had ever been, trying to keep the string of filthy cuss words just begging to be spewed forth pressed behind my lips. I turned on my heel and walked towards the barracks that had been set aside for the people aboard. Because of the lack of personnel, most people only had one or two bunkmates, which might have been good at any other day but now it just reminded people of what they had lost or in this case, who.

I found my required bunk easily, it being one rather close to Penny's. I slid the door closed and slid down the door and began to cry again. He was right. I wasn't a fighter. I was a scientist and I would enjoy the day I could go back and become one again.

Through the whole sobfest, I hadn't realized that I had been clenching my hands and the pain was nearly unbearable. With a hiss, I slowly unclenched then and got to my feet as the door slid open and Thel walked into the room.

"Do you love me?!" I demanded, and I could see his mandibles begin to part in a question, "DO YOU LOVE ME STILL?!" I yelled, "Or was that love lost on the Shield World when it was destroyed?"

I could see the shock that was in his face. I had read him enough to know when I surprised him, "What are you talking about, Emmaline?!" He asked, "Of course I…"

"Then why did you look at me that way?" I questioned, "Why haven't you said anything about us getting married under UNSC laws?"

"Because I already knew we would have to get married again." He admitted, "They wouldn't accept that as a binding union. Why is that such a terrible thing?"

"Because I don't want you to leave me," I said softly, "I had these horrible dreams, these nightmares that you would leave me, go back to Sangheilos and forget about what we had…what we almost had."

He took a step forward and touched my abdomen softly, "What we will have again." He promised and leaned down to touch my face with his hands, "I promise you, we will have a family, my Emmaline, my goddess."

Tears prickled in my eyes again and sniffed back an onslaught of emotion. "Don't leave me, please. Don't leave me ever."

He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me, "You will be my bride again."

I took a shaky breath and then gave his a weak smile, "Does this mean we can have our wedding night again?"

He chuckled and I could see his eyes take on a gleam I hadn't seen in quite a long while, "Why should we wait for our wedding night when we have a room all to ourselves?"

I giggled, actually giggled like a schoolgirl and a blush crept up my face, "Well, I don't see why not…"

"Oh geez, I'm gone for twenty minutes and you guys are about to get it on?" Came a voice and we turned to see Penny. "Good God, can't you horndogs wait until your wedding night?" She then cracked a little smile and then spoke again, "Aren't you going to tell your wife that her hair looks great? She did it herself."

Thel his head back to me and his mandibles flared into a smile, "I was about to say…You look beautiful no matter how you wear your hair."

I snorted and hit him playfully. "Oh shut up, you're making me blush."

Penny laughed, actually laughed, and then rolled her eyes, "well if the Arbiter is making jokes, we know the world is all back to its natural state of mind."


	28. A Promise to Our Stars

The old "Here Comes the Bride" tune made me whip my head to the front. Why was it that my heart was beating like a bird in a cage even though I was getting married to the same guy for the second time? I was wearing a black tee shirt, a pair of jeans and a white lab coat. At least I had something white. My glasses were perched on my nose, I was wearing no makeup and my hair had been recut so it wasn't as weird looking. I was sore, tired and still covered in bruises. So why the hell did I feel so amazing?!

We were in the Orleans, so close to Earth but still so far. I wanted to go home beyond anything else, but I wanted to go home with him. I would get married to Thel in front of the UNSC and we could then, finally, be considered a wedded couple in the eyes of all humans.

I stepped into the main hallway of the Orleans and every head turned to me. I saw Penny, sitting next to the Master Chief, both looking rather uncomfortable, Holmes who was sporting a new lieutenant title and attitude, and…Him.

Thel's armor was dented and blackened from the battles he had been in on the Shield World and covered in green blood and he too looked fired but I didn't care. Right now, he was the most handsome creature I had ever laid eyes on. I glided on a cloud of love towards General Rickards, the head of the Orleans.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to bring forth in God's Holy union, two individuals who may not seem to be similar but have been through enough together that would make even the most devoted couple on the face of God's green earth weak. Do you, Thel Vadam, take Emmaline Jackson to be your lawfully wedded wife, through sickness and through health, through better and for worse, until death do you part?"

"I do," Those words were the most absolutely perfect words to be ever uttered by my dear beloved.

"And do you, Emmaline Jackson, take Thel Vadam to be your lawfully wedded husband through…"

"You don't even have to ask," I said, laughing breathlessly, "I do, beyond anything else, I do."

"Then by the power vested in me…Wait, rings. Sorry I was getting ahead of myself there," He chuckled and I pulled out a ring that matched Thel's armor perfectly and placed it in the center of his chest where the metal gripped it. He had refitted his chest piece to allow the ring to sit in the middle of his chest.

He produced his own ring, given to him by Rickards and slipped it onto my ring finger on my left hand.

"Okay, now we can all get to the good part," He grinned and then threw up his hands, "I now pronounce you husband and wife! You may now kiss the bride!"

Thel wrapped his arms around me and kissed me as the cheers and catcalls erupted all around us and I felt every nerve ending inside me explode in fireworks. Time froze as I wrapped my arms around his neck and he picked me up off my feet.

_"This,"_ I thought as I allowed his tongue to slide into my mouth, _"Is the best kiss to ever go down in the books." _

And that, dear reader, was the truth.

* * *

_-Epilogue-_

_ June 11th, 2558_

_ Dear Penny, _

_ Since you've gone away with John to North Carolina (Godspeed, my friend) and because we didn't have enough time together in our last few days, I decided I am going to fill up the pages of this notebook with letters to you. Of course, where I'm going there's no postal service let alone stamps or envelopes so I'll send them to you when I get back. _

_ Well…of course there was the wedding night, twice as good as our first wedding night, lots more foreplay but since I don't want to explain Sangheli anatomy right now, I'll let your imagination run wild. After this, Thel actually had a surprise for me. Instead of staying around Earth, he wanted to take me to Sanghelios so I can continue research on their culture. I heard you're the new professor of Dark Matter Research at PSU, you lucky dog. I doubt they'd ever take a scientist who studies Sangheli culture. Ah well, a girl could dream, couldn't she? _

_ I don't know how long we're going to be on Sanghelios but I know I'll miss you terribly until I see you. I wish you the best luck with John and your future endeavors as a…"wife." Please send all my love to my family, if you should ever run into them. Especially my sister. Tell her that I've found my star and she can keep the rest of them because this one has stolen me away and has shown me the true wonders of the universe. _

_ Give John my best (Not really, tell him he's an idiot for not appreciating you) totally kidding about that, and best luck with your teaching job. It'll probably be just as exciting as fighting the Flood, if not more. Be careful of college boys, I hear they're terrible flirts._

_ Love, your friend, _

_ Em Vadam-Jackson_

_ P.S. Please fall in love with John! You two would have the most adorable babies ever! _

Em scratched out the last sentence and sighed, leaning back against the ottoman. She was sitting in the apartment she and Thel were sharing until they could leave to Sanghelios. He had already gone off into the small bedroom at the back of the apartment and had presumably fallen asleep but Em didn't mind. She enjoyed the quietness of life after everything that had happened on the Shield World.

She stood up and walked over to the door that led out to the small deck and opened it. Cool night air that held notes of summer scents enveloped her as she stepped out and sat in the wicker chair that looked out onto the small lake that was apparently radioactive, according to the kids who lived in the complex. She smiled and listened to the crickets. Northern California was beautiful this time of year, so far from the warped pavement and waving grass of Central Oklahoma where she had grown up.

She sighed and thought about her best friend. As soon as they had gotten back to Earth, she and John had been assigned to move to the other side of the country, North Carolina while she and Thel looked for an apartment building to spend about two months on while they got ready to leave for Sanghelios.

A shiver of excitement shot through her gut. She was going to her Nirvana, her paradise to study everything she had ever learned. She would make far more use of her language skills there than she ever would here. She missed Penny but she was a tough girl, she could take care of herself and now she had John to take care of and introduce back into civilian life which would probably be a task all in itself.

Em glanced up at the stars and smiled slightly to herself, tapping the pen against her thigh. It hadn't been a month since they had left the Shield World but it felt so distant she wondered if it happened or if it had all been a dream with Ty and K'vada and the Forerunners. She heard that the two or three remaining scientists were making bank with all the information that they had found and shared.

She really meant what she had said in the letter about finding the best star of all. Thel was the one that lit up her sky and he had truly taken her hand and shown her everything the universe had to offer. It had never been Ty, she decided, it had always been him and Ty was just a road bump that turned into a mountain pass that actually had destroyed an entire planet and species…

She closed her eyes and breathed in a breath of summer. It was interlaced with pine and flowers and it smelled like earth. As her breathing slowed and her hand slackened, the pen dropped from her grip, her smile grew ever so slightly, thinking about what had been, and what would be. A child, she hoped, with Thel's eyes.

Slowly, her head lulled to the side and sleep claimed her.

_Let my forever be written in the stars with him…_


End file.
